The Power of Four
by mandabella
Summary: COMPLETE! All Four Halliwells living under one roof. Not enough bedrooms, too many demons. ChrisWyatt fighting. Lots of misery for Paige.
1. Prue's Return

Paige casts a spell, and the demon disappears. "That never gets old," she smirks to herself.   
  
She turns to leave, and does a double take. "That woman over there, talking to that man...she looks like...no.... I've never even.... Is that Prue?!?"  
  
At the sound of her name, Prue whips around, and sees Paige. They stare at each other for a few seconds, and as Paige takes a step forward, Prue jumps as if startled, and orbs out.   
  
"What the heck is going on here? LEO?!?!??!"  
  
Leo appears in a flash of white lights, slightly panicked at the tone of Paige's voice.   
  
"What is it, Paige? Have you been hurt?"  
  
"Leo.... Did I just see Prue, or was it her twin?"  
  
"I, uh... Paige, Prue is.. I have to go, the elders are calling," and he orbs quickly away. Paige considers following him, but decides something fishy is going on here.   
  
"I thought this was just some cosmic coincidence," Paige thinks to herself, "I never thought that could really be HER! But after the way Leo took off, I'm beginning to wonder...." Paige orbs back to the attic of the manor.   
  
She senses that she's alone. "Good. Don't want to upset my sisters if this trully is nothing..." She sets up the candles, measures out some ingredients, and casts the spell to summon a ghost.  
  
"I'm sorry, girls, but this just isn't a good time, I've really got to-" Grams realizes it was Paige that summoned her, and gets a little uncomfortable. "Paige, I-"  
  
"Spill it Mrs. Halliwell, was that Prue I just saw?"  
  
"Mrs. Halliwell? I thought I was 'Grams' to you now?"   
  
"You can be 'Grams' again if you tell me the truth!"  
  
"There's really no time, Paige! It's all turmoil up there! We've got so much to sort out, before they discover what's happened, we need to talk to Pr-"  
  
"Mother!!" Patty has just appeared of her own will. "She can't know, we have to-"  
  
"Patty, we can't keep this from her anymore. Now matter how dire the consequences." Grams turns to Paige. "That woman you saw today, that iwas/i you sister Prue. After her...death... Well, the elders knew that not even they could change Prue's fate, but they could offer her a new destiny... as a whitelighter. But with all the commotion down here, with Piper and Phoebe finding you, and Cole, and the babies.... It was decided that Prue would not be allowed to contact any of you for a while. An undetermined while. None of you were really ready. When the Angel of Destiny offered you girls mortality and you declined, the elders decided that Prue would never be allowed to see her sisters again, or to meet you at all, Paige. Prue was of course very upset by this ruling, and even threatened to clip her wings. All that had been keeping her holding on, aside from helping witches and innocents, of course, was knowing that some day, she would be reunited with her sisters...with you, Paige. But the elders warned her against it, said that if she did in fact clip her wings, she would NOT be mortal, as Leo was for a while, but would in fact go into 'death.' Despite her anger, hurt and frustration, she couldn't stop being a whitelighter.  
  
She's done so much good in life, and now in afterlife, she couldn't let it end. She has been assigned to charges that lived in different parts of the world, and knew she was taking a huge risk coming here to San Francisco to follow one of her charges, but she couldn't ignore the call of one needing healing. That was just before you saw her Paige. The demon you had just vanquished had shortly before injured a young witch... Prue's charge. Everything up there is in such a turmoil, the elders are meeting with Prue now, and of course she's so upset, even though she's so excited to have seen you finally, but they are deciding what to do with her even as we speak. Paige, I-"  
  
Paige sits down on the sofa, almost in a daze. Patty steps through the barrier of life and death and sits next to her, wrapping her arm around the upset Paige.   
  
"Honey, I know it's a lot to take in. We really need to get back to Prue's hearing, we need to be there for her right now. You must keep this from your sisters, for just a little while. Please, it would upset them so much. I promise, we'll come talk to you just as soon as everything is decided. We-"  
  
"No need Mom. It's decided." Prue is standing under the window, in non-ghost form. "They're on their way."  
  
In a massive flash of white lights, ten elders and Leo appear.  
  
"Prudence Halliwell, you have been given orders in the strictest confidence not to contact your living relatives."  
  
Prue starts to protest, wanting to say that there was no way she could leave behind a fallen charge.  
  
The elder holds up a hand. "You've said your piece, Prudence. The decision is as follows: We, the elders, have decided that you were right in not letting your charge die, but we cannot ignore the conditions of your whitelightership. Your wings are hereby clipped, You are no longer nor will you ever again be, a white lighter. You will lead a mortal existance, here with your family. But your wiccan powers will not be returned." The elder turns to Mom and Grams. "Patricia, Penelope, you will be expected back in 3 hour's time. For that duration, you will be allowed human form, but you are not to leave this house." All elders orb out, leaving only Mom, Grams, Prue, Leo, and a very stunned Paige.  
  
Completely baffled, Paige turns to Prue. "I...I can't beleive I'm finally meeting you! I've heard so much, and-"  
  
Paige is cut off by Prue throwing herself at her and wrapping her in the biggest hug ever. Prue's facing away from the attic door, which opens, with Phoebe and Piper behind it.  
  
"Paige, are you up here? We wanted to know if you-"  
  
Piper stops, stunned. Phoebe, who hasn't seen the guests yet, accidentally walks into Piper, knocking into her, and they both stumble into the attic. "Piper, why'd you stop?"  
  
And the Phoebe sees what Piper saw. "What is this, some kind of sick joke? What the HELL is going on here?!? Who are you? What do you want? Why are you doing this to us?" Obviously, Phoebe thinks this is a clone. She stalks over to Prue, ready to attack, but when she looks into her eyes, she knows it really is Prue. "Prue? Prue, it's really you!" Phoebe and Prue both start crying, and embrace. As soon as it sinks in with Piper, that this stranger standing in her attic really is her big sister, she runs over and jumps into the hug, too. They all start talking at once, and crying and laughing, until,  
  
"WHaaaah!"   
  
"Oh!" Piper jumps at the sound, "It's Chris! I have to-"  
  
"I'll go take care of him," Leo says, finally breaking his silence. He hoped not to draw attention to himself, hopes that Paige will forget that he seemed to know something, "stay here Piper, with your three sisters." He smiles and starts to walk to the door.  
  
"Who's Chris?" Prue says.   
  
"He's our son, mine and Leo's," says Piper. "Our second son."  
  
"You have two babies?!?" Prue exclaims. "Nu-uh, it's my turn!" She runs out of the attic to see her nephews, runs into Piper's room, can't find the kids, and turns around. "Where are they?"   
  
"In my old room," says Phoebe. "We refinished the basement, and I moved down there."  
  
Prue raises on eyebrow and grins, then quickly takes off for the boys' room.   
  
A while later, after all the explanations have been made to Piper and Phoebe, everyone is gathered around the table, Piper cooked up EVERYONE's favorite dishes. Wyatt is sitting next to Prue, and she is holding a sleeping baby Chris.   
  
"Not that I'm not thrilled you're here, Prue," Piper says, "but how are you holding up? There are just so many surprises today, but what about your charges? Will you miss helping them?"  
  
"Of course I will miss it, but I'm sure they will get reassigned to another whitelighter. I could never be happier than to be here with my family." She sends a smile to Paige. "ALL of my family."   
  
"Girls, we really must be going now," says Patty as she looks at the many-times-repaired   
grandfather clock. Everyone rushes up for a group hug.  
  
"Grams, Mom, we don't want to say goodbye to you yet!" Phoebe says, hugging tighter.   
  
"I know, sweetie," says Patty, "but only so many exceptions to rules can be made in one day."  
  
They all get up and start to the attic again, which is where they think the ghosts must depart from. They enter the foyer, Grams takes one step up, stops, and turns around. Everyone behind her stops, and Grams looks up at the chandelier. The sisters just so happened to stop right   
underneath it, together. Lights flash out of the ceiling, infiltrate the four sisters, and sparks fly. Grams and Patty fade away, but the sisters Halliwell stay united in the light beams.   
  
"This.."  
  
"No..."   
  
"Couldn't be...."  
  
"But they said....."  
  
The lights subsided, and all the girls stood there, holding on to each others' hands. They look baffled at each other, Wide-eyed, Prue glances around at her sisters. Realization sets over her face, she grins slyly, and squints at a vase of flowers on the foyer table. The vase moves to the center of the table.   
  
"I guess the elders couldn't control my destiny, afterall."   
  
"Uh, not to be a killjoy," says Paige, "but how are we gonna explain Prue's return?"  
  
"We'll worry about that tomorrow. Where'm I gonna sleep?" 


	2. First Attack

It's been about a month since Prue came home.  
  
She walks through the double doors of the manor, hangs up her jacket, and heads for the kitchen.  
  
"I can't believe how much mail I am getting! Back from the dead, and I've got at least a   
  
dozen offers for transfer balances!" She tears up the credit card applications and throws them   
  
away. She presses the button on the answering machine, and listens to Nancy O'Dell asking for an   
  
interview, several more calls about offering credit, and Piper saying she wouldn't be able to cook   
  
dinner tonight because of a meeting at Wyatt and Chris' magic pre-school.   
  
Just then Phoebe walks in and walks up to Prue for a hug.   
  
"Pheebs, I promise I'm not going anywhere again, you can stop now, you're smooshing me!"  
  
"I'm sowwy Pwue, but I thought I'd never get to hug you again!" in her baby-talk voice.  
  
"Daryl was so great, coming up with one last cover story for us," Prue says as she starts   
  
looking for a snack. "Witness protection program. Personally I find it very phoney, but everyone   
  
seems to be believing it. Like I really would have been out on assignment for 415 magazine and   
  
just happened to get a few shots of a mob murder. Puleez! I would have stopped it."  
  
"Of course you would have," says Paige as she walks in, wearing a lime green halter top, much   
  
like the white one Prue is wearing. She picks up a knife and starts slicing up the fruit that   
  
has been laid out on the counter. "but Daryl was pretty much thinking on his feet, and we should   
  
actually be grateful that he said anything, seeing as how he hates us now."  
  
"I'm working on Daryl," Prue says as she gets out a large bowl for the fruit salad. She   
  
bumps into Phoebe when turning around, tapping her with the bowl. Phoebe has a premonition of   
  
Wyatt and Chris playing on the floor, mixing bowls on their heads for helmets. She laughs mid-  
  
premonition, until she sees a demon shimmer into the room with an energy ball. Phoebe gasps, and   
  
her sisters both say, "What did you see?"  
  
Phoebe describes the vision, "They were just playing over there on the floor when they're   
  
attacked." She looks at her watch. "Piper won't be home with them for at least a couple hours,  
  
I'm heading upstairs to the Book of Shadows to find out who that demon was."  
  
After several minutes of flipping through pages for Phoebe, and pacing the attic for Prue and   
  
Paige, "I found him! Kovos, a lower-level demon. He must be trying to impress the new Source.   
  
Well, he's not going to do it by hurting my nephews! We'll hurt him first!"  
  
"Well, if he's a lower-level demon, we won't even need to work on a vanquishing potion or spell.   
  
We'll just wait for him to throw an energy ball and either Prue or myself will intercept it and   
  
send it right back at him. We won't even have to tell Piper and Leo about it." Paige says.  
  
"Let's summon him," says Prue.  
  
They do their summoning spell, and Kovos appears. "Why have you called me here?"  
  
"I think you know the answer to that already," says Paige. She sets the trap by orbing   
  
a lamp toward the demon, and he creates an energy ball, thrusts it toward her, and Prue raises   
  
her hand and flings it back at him. He is dead.  
  
"Well, now that he's out of the way, let's get back to lunch," says Phoebe. 


	3. Starting Over

As they sit at the table having lunch, Paige says, "I've been thinking... when the new

Source is strong enough, he's going to obviously try to take us out. Again. Somehow, I don't think the Power of Three spell is appropriate anymore. Can we write a Power of Four spell, or will it not be as powerful, since the Power of Three spell was written years and years ago?"

Phoebe chimes in: "We've written our own spells dozens of times and they're usually effective. Prue, remember when I encouraged you to write your first spell? As long as it comes from deep inside, it's going to work."

"Yeah," says Paige, "but I was just hung up on the fact that the Power of Three spell was probably written by Melinda Warren herself."

"I see what you're saying, Paige," says Prue, "but I agree with Pheebs on this."

"Okay then," Paige smiles, "Let's start rhyming!"

Piper enters, carrying Chris, holding Wyatt's hand. "Why are we rhyming? What's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing!" says Paige as she holds up her hands. "We're just talking about how the Power of Three spell won't cut it now that there are four of us."

"Oh," says Piper, putting Chris down on a blanket on the floor next to Wyatt, handing them mixing bowls to play with, "I already thought of one: The Power of Four, Forever More."

"Yes! See?" Phoebe says to Paige, "That will work out great!" She does the smiling with wide eyes thing at Paige, and slightly jerks her head toward the boys on the floor, trying to get Paige and Prue to notice the boys are set up just like in her premonition. Her sisters notice this, and Paige cocks her head to Phoebe, trying to say, "It's already been taken care of," without words.

"Okay, what's up?" says Piper. "You guys are acting weird. Fill me in."

"It's nothing, anymore," says Prue. "Phoebe had a premonition, we took care of it.

Nothing for you to worry about."

Piper puts her hands on her hips and purses her lips.

"Fine!" Phoebe states, "it was an attack on the boys. Just a lower-level demon, we

summoned him and kicked his ass."

"The boys? But they were at school, I just picked them up, why didn't their teachers tell me?"

"Chill, Piper!" says Paige. "We intercepted it, the boys were still at school, we

vanquished the demon here. They weren't in any danger."

"Oh," sighs Piper, "that's a relief. But if someone is after them, we have to find out

who sent this demon, this-"

"Kovos," Paige says.

"Piper," soothes Prue, "someone is always going to be after the boys, just like someone is always after us. Whoever sent Kovos will come back for us later, and we'll kick his ass, too. Now Pheebs, come downstairs with me and let me raid your closet. I have a job interview tomorrow."

"Yay!" claps Piper, "Where at? Are you going back to 415?"

"No," says Prue, "even with Daryl's cover story, they don't want me back. Unreliable, or something. They said I had 'too many family emergencies.'"

They all laugh.

"What's so funny?" Says Leo as he orbs in.

"Nothing," smiles Paige. "Prue is going on a job interview tomorrow."

"That's great!" exclaims Leo. "Where at?"

"P3," smirks Prue. "My own sister is making me interview."

"I am not!" Piper protests. "I didn't even know you wanted the job. The manager"

"Just kidding!" interrupts Prue. "It's a joke. I'm applying at the Bay Mirror, actually.

I really love art history and all, but I can't go back to the museum, or Buckland's. I want to get back into photography, it's what I'm really passionate about. You guys still have my portfolio, right?"

"How can you ask that?" says Piper. "Like we'd get rid of that!"

"Well you sold my car!" Prue pretend-pouts.

"But I kept most of your clothes!" pipes up Phoebe. "Let's go!" Prue and Phoebe get up and walk toward the basement stairs.

They talk and giggle all the way, and Prue is faintly heard saying, "I can't beleive you moved to the basement! What about the Woogieman?"

"So, did Phoebe get Prue the interview with Elise?" Leo asks Paige and Piper, as he sits down on the floor to play with the kids.

"I don't think so," Paige puts in, "she would have mentioned it. Besides, I don't think Elise has much to say about who gets hired as photographers. I think she's only the manager of writers."

Everyone is distracted by orbs, as Wyatt hugs baby Chris and they disappear. Piper's eyes get wide, Leo looks panicked, and Paige stands up, but has no idea where to go. Leo starts to try and sense the boys, until they hear the TV in the other room, playing the theme song to The Wiggles. Everyone exhales a sigh of relief and head toward the conservatory.

"Wyatt," Piper says, "didn't Mommy ask you not to orb your little brother away? It scares Mommy, honey."

"Wiggles!" is all Wyatt says, grins, and turns toward the TV.

Piper and Leo collapse on the couch, Paige lowers herself to a chair. "These boys are gonna give us ALL gray hair!" Piper sighs.


	4. Sibling Rivalry

"Congratulations, Prue. I think you'll fit in well with the rest of the Bay Mirror Family."

Jeff Tyler reaches out to shake Prue's hand, and they both stand up. He hands her back her portfolio. "Very impressive."

"Thanks," says Prue.

Outside the office, Phoebe is waiting for Prue in her car.

"Well?"

"I got it!" exclaims Prue.

The girls get all excited and squeal. Prue flops into the car next to Phoebe, and as they start to drive away, Prue says, "This sucks."

"What sucks, honey?" asks Phoebe.

"Having to rely on my sisters for a ride."

Weaving through traffic, Phoebe says, "Oh, I'm so sorry we sold you car! We just, we thought, and we..."

"It's okay Phoebe, I understand, and I'm not mad at you. But I really need to get a car of my own."

"In the meantime, between my car, Paige's Bug, and Piper's Jeep, we should all be able to get to where we need to go. And now you know how I used to feel," Phoebe smiles.

They pull up into the driveway at the manor on Prescott Street, and get out of the car, walk into the house. There's an awful lot of commotion going on in the kitchen, so they hustle toward the sound. "What's going on here?" Prue asks.

Paige is between the island and the counter. A pan starts to fall, and Prue magically puts it back in place.

"Thanks," huffs Paige, "I'm baby-sitting, and these guys won't let up. Didn't you notice the mess they left in the dining room?" She bends down and reappears with a kid in each arm.

"Pwoo!" Wyatt exclaims and reaches toward Prue. She takes him in her arms and gives him a cuddle.

"Aw, these little guys? They can't be that much trouble! Just look at how sweet they are!" as Wyatt gives her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

Phoebe and Paige exchange knowing glances and smile. "Just you wait," says Phoebe, "they're being little angels for you now, but they've only know you a month. Give it time, and they will raise hell for you, too."

Piper and Leo enter from the front doors, look over the mess, and head to the kitchen.

"Well, gee Paige, if we'd have known you'd tear the house apart while babysitting, we'd have waited to go on our lunch date." states Piper, bending down to pick up a stuffed bunny.

"Ha ha," smirks Paige. "No one deserves alone time more than the two of you. And besides, I was gonna get this cleaned up before you got home. Why are you back so early?"

"Piper couldn't relax," says Leo. "She kept getting distracted by things she thought the kids would like. So we decided to skip the matinee afterwards."

"Well, we DO have lots more time to spend together, since Leo gave up being an Elder, and we're his only charges now," smiles Piper, "so the movie can wait till another day."

"Hey, why don't Paige, Prue and I go out tonight after you get the boys to sleep, and you two can watch videos instead of going out? The house will be quiet with us gone and the boys sleeping, so Piper can relax and have fun."

"That would be great, Pheebs, thanks! Are you guys up to it?" she asks her sisters.

"Sure!" say Paige and Prue in unison.

"Great!" says Phoebe. "So what should we do tonight, girls?"

"P3!" they also say in unison.

As everyone starts laughing and tidying up, and the boys are playing in the pen, a demon shimmers in and throws a fireball at the group, hoping to hit at least one of them.

"Freeze, dirtbag!" Piper says, and tries to freeze the demon, but only freezes the

fireball. "No? Well try this on for size!" and Piper blows up the demon.

The group exhales a collective sigh of relief.

"How are my children ever going to have a normal life if demons show up every other day?" says Piper, still cleaning up after the boys.

"Piper," says Leo, "we've been through this before. They're not normal, they-"

"I know, I know," pouts Piper. "I can still bitch about it."

As Paige puts the last toy away, and Prue folds the last blanket and places it in the

playpen with the boys, baby Chris starts crying.

"Wyatt, that's Chris' toy puppy." Prue says, taking it away from Wyatt and giving it back to the baby. Wyatt orbs the puppy back to himself. Prue gets a stern look on her face and puts her hands on her hips. "Wyatt, no. Give it back," she says. Wyatt sticks out his lower lip, which begins to tremble, orbs the toy back to Chris and starts crying. "Oh, you poor thing!" Prue exlaims as she picks up the weeping Wyatt and comforts him. "You have your own toys, and you're a big boy now. You don't want to play with Chris' baby toys, do you?" she asks Wyatt. He sniffles a little, and tries to stop crying, noticing her dangling earring and pulls on it.

"Ow! Bad Wyatt!" she says as she pulls his little fist away from her ear and sets him back in the playpen with a now contented Chris.

Paige stiffles a giggle, which warrents her a dirty look from Prue. "Sorry, sis, but we told ya those boys aren't angels!"

"Okay, okay, enough. Who wants Book duty? We gotta find out who that was and if he was sent by the same person as Kovos was," Piper says.

"I'll do it," says Paige, anxious to get away from Prue, at least until her ear stops

hurting. She turns and walks upstairs, and Leo heads over to the enclosure to play with the boys. Piper lowers herself to the overstuffed chair, and says, "So Prue, how was the interview?"

"Oh, I got the job," she says, still rubbing her ear. "My first assignment is to get some new promo shots of Phoebe for her column. It's due Thursday, which is only four days away. Plenty of time for a pro like me," she smirks.

"Just tell me when and where!" pipes up Phoebe.

"Hate to interrupt," says Paige, coming back in the room with the book, "but that wasn't just another lower-level demon." She sets the book down on the table, and they all gather around.

"'Alstus, second in command to Levius, leader of a group of demons that do the source's bidding'," reads Piper. "Well, great. They must've chosen another source for us to vanquish."

"But if the source has been reestablished, we need to take action now," says Paige.

"Agreed," says Prue. "But I'm a little nervous, I've never been up against the soruce before."

"It'll be fiiiine," says Phoebe. "Besides, we've defeated a source three times now, and with Piper's new Power of Four spell, we can't go wrong."

"Right," says Paige.

"Right," says Piper. "Leo, take the boys up there, for their safety, until we kick his

demonic ass again. No buts, mister, just do it!"

Leo sighs, touches the boys, and they all orb away.

"And keep a close eye on Wyatt, don't let him come back till we're done!" Piper calls after Leo.

They all head back into the kitchen to brew some potions.

"So, what's Chris' power?" Prue asks. "I haven't seen him use any yet."

"We, uh, we're not sure he has any powers," says Piper. "Hand me the ginger," trying to change the obviously touchy subject.

"Piper," says Phoebe, "I'm sure he has powers, he just hasn't used them yet. I mean, when Chris came back from the future, he had gobs of powers. Orbing, telekinesis, freezing, and I'm pretty sure he was empathic, too. I think he's got all of our powers. He's just not coming into them as fast as Wyatt did."

"Yeah, you're probably right," says Piper as she and Paige add ingredients to the pot. "It still worries me, though."

"So, what are we going to do after we finish the potion?" asks Prue, trying to change the subject she brought up in the first place.

"Well," says Paige as she carefully pours potion into four vials, "we won't be able to summon him here, so we'll have to go after him. I can orb us all to the underground, but we're going to have to be extra careful. Our powers aren't as strong down there, and sometimes don't work right."

"Then why not summon him here?" says Prue. "We'll have the advantage, and with the Nexus being here there will be like, no risk."

"I like your idea better, Prue," says Piper, "but Paige is right, he won't come up here, and we aren't strong enough to summon him."

"Not with the Power of Three, but the Power of Four might work," says Phoebe. "Paige, get the crystal cage ready. It won't hold him for long, but hopefully long enough for us to get the spell started. Prue, bringing the Source here is still risky, slice up those apples and laurel leaves like we were taught in the past by Ava. Can't be too safe."

"Are we really going to do this in my kitchen?" says Piper, incredulous. "It will be so messy!"

"Fine, we'll move to the dining room," says Prue. "Everyone ready?"

A few minutes later, everything is set up, and the sisters are gathering their courage. They've moved the table and chairs from the center of the room and set up the crystal cage there. They stand united, and say the summoning spell. "It didn't work," says Prue. "He must've felt it, he knows we're after him now. What do we do?"

"Well," says Paige, "we're just gonna have to go pay him a visit."

"But he'll be surrounded by his minions. He'll have too much back up."

"Wait, look!" says Piper, pointing to the crystal cage. The source suddenly appears, highly pissed off that he was able to be summoned. He tries to take a step toward the Charmed Ones, but the cage holds him back. He keeps trying, and the cage starts to bend, like fencing. "It won't hold him for long, come on!" yells Piper.

The girls join hands, and start the spell. "The Power of Four, Forever More. The Power of Four, Forever More."

The source starts laughing. "You think you can stop me with that stupid rhyme?" as he starts breaking through the forcefield.

"It's not working!!" yells Phoebe.

"Keep going!" Yells Paige.

"The Power of Four, Forever More! The Power of Four, Forever More! The Power of Four, Forever More!"

Suddenly, in a swirl of white lights, Wyatt orbs in, holding Chris' hand. They 'land' in their mother's arms, and Prue, Paige and Phobe, still chanting, grab ahold of each other and the boys. Wind picks up, blowing long dark hair everywhere, the Source is losing strength

In one final breath, the sisters scream out, "The Power of Four, Forever More!" as Wyatt holds up one hand toward the Source. "The Power of Four, Forever More!"

The Source disappears, the winds calm, and everything goes quiet.

Suddenly, Leo orbs in. "Thank God you boys are alright!" He squashes both boys to his chest, almost crying with relief. "Wyatt is one tricky little guy. I was putting an anti-orb charm on him, and then they were just gone!" He kneels down, setting the boys down in the playpen, still trying to catch his breath. "He even sent me chasing a false trail! First I went to the playground at magic school, and when they weren't there, I knew Wyatt tricked me! Thank God they're alright, thank God YOU'RE alright! What happened here?"

"Looks like it took the power of Six to defeat the Source." Piper states, still stunned. "Guess that bastard was stronger than we thought."

"Well, all things considered, it was a good thing Wyatt orbed the boys in, then, or we'd have been toast!" says Phoebe.

Baby Chris makes some cooing noises to get everyone's attention, and ORBS out of the playpen.

"I, but, he, you-"

"Oh stop babbling, Leo! It was Chris! Chris orbed them here!" Piper runs over to Chris and picks him up, hugging him tight.

"I guess he's got a power after all," smiles Prue.

"Lucky I didn't put that anti-orbing charm on him, too!" says Leo.

Chris squirms a little in his mothers arms, reaching for his binky. He can't reach it,

so he blinks. The binky flings into his mouth.

"Whoa!" Phoebe says, "Make that powers plural!"

"See honey," Leo says to Piper, "our boys are alright. Their first vanquish, and it was the Source. I think there's nothing to worry about here."

"But how did Chris know to come help us?" says Paige.

"OOooh, he must be a little empath, too!" squeals Phoebe, running over to hug Chris. Wyatt, jealous of the attention his little brother is getting, pinches himself, and Chris starts crying.

"Oh, I'd say we have PLENTY to worry about when it comes to these two!" says Piper.

"Ready for that quiet night at home?" Phoebe winks.


	5. New Wheels

"Come on Phoebe!" yells Prue as she runs down the stairs into the foyer. "You promised to drive me to the car dealership!" As she passes under the chandelier, she gets a chill.

"I'm coming!" Phoebe passes under the chandelier and gets a chill, too.

"That, is so freaky," says Prue. "Do you alawys shiver when you walk through there?"

"No, why?"

"I always do. Ever since I came back. I mean, the Elders told me I wouldn't have any powers anymore, and when we were all four under this chandelier, boom, I got them back. Not that I'm complaining, but it's freaky."

"Everything that happens in this family is freaky," says Paige, who just walked in.

"Yeah, but if the Elders had the resources to take away Phoebe's powers when she abused them, why weren't they able to keep mine away from me when I broke the rules?"

"Like Grams said, the Elders don't have control over our destiny, and apparently our destiny has more work to do," says Phoebe. She grabs her purse and jacket. "Do you wanna come with, Paige? We're going car shopping, and maybe Prue will buy us lunch with her big ole' paycheck from the Bay Mirror."

"Ha ha, my paycheck is tiny! I have to get a USED car!" whnes Prue.

"Boo hoo," states Paige.

"Oh shut up, and come on, Paige!" laughs Prue, grabbing Paige by the arm and dragging her outside.

At the dealership, the girls are browsing the vehicles in the slightly used section.

"Now THIS is a great car!" smiles Paige, looking at a lime green VW Bug.

Prue rolls her eyes. "One eyesore in the driveway is enough! Besides, YOU have a car just like that!"

"Exactly!" says Paige, "it's a great car. Wait- eyesore?"

The girls laugh and keep looking.

"Can I help you ladies?" says a car salesman, sneaking out between the Bug and an Explorer. He's in a navy suit with a maroon tie, with sandy brown hair just a little too long, so that it curled around his collar. Immediately, he gets the attention of the three sisters. They all start pushing each other to get closer to him. "My name is Aiden, and I'll be happy to tell you about any of these fine cars." He smiles, and the girls notice perfect, gleamng teeth, and cute dimples, and gorgeous green eyes.

"I'm looking for something-" starts Phoebe

"No, she's not," interrupts Prue. "She has a car. I'M the one looking. I was thinking of maybe something sporty, and black, and..." Prue loops her arm into his, and steers him away from her sisters, towards the newer cars. She looks over her shoulder at her Paige and Phoebe, and winks.

As they walk away, Paige pretend-pouts. "I didn't even get a chance to flirt!"

"Come on, honey, let's get lunch without her!" says Phoebe, as she leaders her back to her car. "Let her find her own ride home!" she says, kidding.

The girls decide on Chinese, since they were stocking up on herbs in Chinatown anyway. After lunch, they are having tea, when Phoebe's cell phone rings. "Hello? Piper, slow down, what happened?" Paige perks up, somewhat hoping it's a demonic situation, so she can go kick some ass, but feeling guilty that she had wished her sister into trouble.

"No, no, I'll come home now. Just sit tight."

"What's up?" Paige asks. "I'll orb us home, come on!" she stands up, and looks around for a restroom or somewhere private to make their exit from.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. Piper is just stressed out over motherly stuff. Chris is teething, and Wyatt keeps orbing his chew rings away, and the dishwasher exploded, so Leo's fixing that, and I think Piper and Leo just need some alone time. I'm gonna go home and give them a hand. Why don't you go back and check on Prue? If she buys something from that Aiden guy, she might give you a lift home!" winks Phoebe.

"Please. Like I need to worry about being stranded," laughs Paige. "Call me if the boys are too much for you. I'm going to browse at that bookstore for a bit."

Paige was in the middle of the aromatherapy section when she heard a familiar voice.

"I'm looking for a book on Stonehenge."

"Certainly," replied the clerk, "They're located right over there, in aisle 5."

"Thanks," says the man.

"Can't be..." thinks Paige. She rushes to aisle six and peers around the corner. "It is!" she thinks. "Glen!" she exclaims.

Glen looks up. "Paige? Hey! I've missed you so much!" They hug, and Paige pulls back to look at him.

"When did you get back to town? Are you staying in San Francisco now? How's-" she starts to ask after his wife, but looks down at his ring finger and notices it bare. "Oh.. sorry, I-"

"It's fine," says Glen. "After all we went through, she decided life was too boring, can you belive it?"

"Boring? After your wedding from hell?" Paige half-laughs.

"Yeah. Well. So, you and your sisters still...ya know?"

"Oh yeah, every other day it seems. Speaking of sisters, you are never gonna believe this. Prue's back."

"Prue? But didn't she die?"

"Yeah, well, this IS my family we're talking about. You have to come meet her! She's down the street right now, looking at cars. She's all miffed because Phoebe and Piper sold her car after she died."

"But you just said she's not dead," says Glen.

"Come on," Paige says, "I'll catch you up. We can go help Phoebe with the boys."

"What boys?" says Glen, putting down a book, following Paige outside.

"Piper and Leo's. They have two sons now."

" I HAVE missed a lot," says Glen. He walks toward his Ducati motorcycle. "I'll follow you."

"I'm stranded," smirks Paige. "Give a girl a lift?"

Later, at the manor, Phoebe, Paige, Glen and the boys are in the living room. The boys are playing on the floor, Wyatt actually let Chris keep his teething ring. The girls have caught Glen up on mostly everything, without going into too many demonic details. Wyatt decides he wants Chris' teddy bear, and orbs it to himself.

"No Wyatt! You can't orb stuff from your little brother! That's his bear!" Phoebe goes toward the boys to switch back the toy. Chris orbs it back himself, along with Wyatt's toy cell phone.

"Aaah!" screams Wyatt.

"Well, now ya know how it feels, big guy," Phoebe tries not to laugh as she takes the phone from Chris and gives it back to Wyatt. She hands Chris toy keys, which he starts chewing on.

"How do you guys handle this? I've heard non-magical kids are enough to handle, as it is, but refereeing two magical tots has to take a lot out of you!"

"We've all adjusted," says Paige. "Thank God for magic preschool, though. I'm sure they wouldn't fit in down at the Wee-Kids center."

Just then, Prue breezes in. "Guys! Come check out my new car! It's - Oh, hi." She extends a hand to Glen. "I don't belive we've met. I'm Prue."

"Glen." He shakes her hand. "I'm a friend of Paige's."

"The friend from the wedding you ruined?" Prue asks Paige.

"Paige rolls her eyes and huffs. "Yes, and we've gotten past that, haven't we?" she smiles at Glen.

"Okay, how about that car?" Phoebe gets up from the floor where she'd been playing with the boys.

"It's outside. Come see!"

Phoebe bends down to pick up Wyatt. "No!" Wyatt yells. "Pwue!" and he orbs himself into Prue's arms.

Phoebe puts her hands on her hips. "What is with Wyatt? Whenever Prue is around, he wants nothing to do with anyone else. Well, you still love me, don't you, Chris?" She turns to Chris, who puts his arms up toward her. "Yes you do! You wove your Auntie Phoebe, don't you?" in her baby talk voice.

Everyone heads outside to see what Prue brought home. Paige laughs as she sees Aiden sitting in the passenger seat of Prue's new Mustang convertible.

"Blue?" asks Phoebe. "I thought you only liked black?"

"Yeah, well, Aiden sold this to me commission-free if I go out with him tonight, so shut up!" Prue growl-whipsers to Phoebe. In a normal voice, "I'm gonna go change. We're going to Quake for dinner."

"Quake?" asks Piper, as she just walks up with Leo. "I haven't even thought of that place since I quit working there." She reaches to take Wyatt from Prue, who thinks about it for a minute and decides to give up his favorite aunt for his favorite mommy. He hugs her tight, and puts a wet sloppy kiss on her cheek. Piper laughs,ang hugs him back. Phoebe hands Chris to Leo, and smiles at the way Leo holds Chris close. She's remembering when older Chris came back from the future, and how Leo and Chris hated each other for a while.

"Nice car, Prue," says Leo, not even looking up from Chris.

"Thanks. Keep Aiden company while I go change."

"This could be a while." Leo looks up and notices the car for the first time. "Great car. Just not what I thought would be Prue's style." He walks closer to the car and checks it out. He and Aiden make small talk.

"Leave it to Prue to find a date at a car lot." says Phoebe.

"Leave it to Prue to find a date whever she goes," laughs Piper.

Several hours later. Paige and Glen are cleaning up the kitchen.

"That was really great of Piper to invite me for dinner. She is such a great cook. Why isn't she a chef anymore?"

"Well, says Paige, rinsing out a pan, "She loves cooking, and it was her dream to own her own restaurant, but then the club thing just kinda happened, and she loves that just as much. Plus, since she's the owner and all, she can take off all the time she needs to go demon hunting, or to be with the boys."

The back door slams, and in storms Prue. She turns around and slams the door again and stomps her foot.

"Bad date?" asks Paige, raising one eyebrow.

"Bad doesn't even describe it! One word does: Demon."

"Uh, that's my cue to leave," says Glen, as he slides out of the kitchen.

"Demon?" asks Paige, going over to Prue, hugging her to comfort her. "What happened?

"Well, the same as usual, I guess. We went to dinner, we had a great time, walked on the pier afterward, and when we got back in the car, he leaned in to kiss me, but I got a weird feeling, so I pulled back. I pretended I left my purse at the pier, and got out of the car. He followed me, and when I was pretending to look for it, he tried to stab me with an athame."

"Are you okay?" shrieked Paige.

"Of course. I just flipped my fingers and the kife stabbed him. Poof he went."

"Then what's the big deal?"

"I'm sick of dating demons! What demon poses as a car salesman, anyway?"

"One who knew you needed a car, apparently."

"Speaking of," Prue smirks and pulls something out of her purse. "Doesn't even need paid for. He signed the title over to me. Too bad he was a demon though. He was gorgeous!"

"You're telling me!" says Paige.

"Please! You've got Glen drooling over you. Like you need a gorgeous demon, or mortal for that matter, flattering you. Glen's a hottie."

"Is everything okay in here?" Piper asks, standing in the doorway next to Phoebe. "Glen said you came in upset, Prue."

"Oh, it's nothing, just had to do a little demon slaying on my date."

"Her date with a demon," laughts Paige.

"Oh, no, Aiden was a demon?" asks Phoebe. "Did you at least kick his ass?"

"Duh," says Prue. "Did you expect any less?"

The girls all laugh, and Paige stands up. "Excuse me ladies, but I've been informed a certain hottie in the living room is drooling over me. It's late. Don't wati up." she winks, and slinks out the door.


	6. Unexpected News

Prue pulls her new car into the driveway, honks, and waits impatiently. She honks again. A few minutes later, Phoebe comes flouncing out, pulls open the car door, and flops into the passenger seat. "What's up?"

"Phoebs, I've been waiting for almost five minutes! Why weren't you ready?"

Phoebe rolls her eyes, "I had to grab my stuff. Where's the location?"

Phoebe is talking about the shoot Prue is going on this afternoon. About an hour from here, so buckle up so we can leave!"

A little over an hour later, they pull up at the studio where Prue will be working that day. Phoebe had just gotten done telling Prue the whole story of Cole, and how Paige went to the alternate universe and they vanquished him, even though she doesn't remember that part.

"Phoebe, I'm sorry you had to go through that. I wish I could've been there to-"

"To what, Prue?" Phoebe interrupted. "To tell me Cole was evil? To tell me to leave him? To tell me to vanquish him once and for all?"

Prue looks taken aback, "Phoebe, I-"

"It's okay. I heard it from Paige. Daily. And later from Piper. But I wouldn't listen. And I wouldn't have listened to you, either. You know how I am when it comes to the people I love. And I really really loved Cole." Phoebe gets quiet then, and stares out the window for a minute, then gets out of the car and starts walking.

Prue jumps out, grabs her equipment from the trunk, and jogs after Phoebe.

"Phoebe, wait, let me catch up!" Phoebe stops, and waits. When Prue gets to her, she says, "I guess still have a lot of catching up to do," referring to the time while she was gone.

"Yeah, I guess so." Phoebe opens the door to the studio, and they walk in silence.

Back at the manor that evening, everyone was sitting around the dinner table. Glenn had even stayed for dinner, and was watching with joy as baby Chris was feeding himself, getting more on his face than in his mouth. Phoebe is chatting animatedly about the shoot on location today, all her previous sadness gone. Or supressed, anyway.

After dinner, everyone drifted in their own directions. Piper and Leo were upstairs giving the boys baths, Phoebe and Prue were talking in the kitchen while cleaning the dinner mess, and Paige and Glen were cuddle up on the couch in front of a fire.

"You really like coming over here, don't you?" Paige asks, snuggling with her head against Glen's chest.

"Yeah, I really do. There's never a dull moment here, and your family, they're all great. I love playing with the boys, too. Especially Chris. Piper let me watch him for a little bit today, when she had to patch up Wyatt when he skinned his knees."

"So, you have a special bond with Chris?" asks Paige.

"Yeah. I love Wyatt, too, but there's something that draws me to Chris. Maybe it has something to do with his empathy. He always tunes into my moods and makes me laugh like crazy."

"So, do you ever think about having a little Chris of your own?"

"Sometimes. I wouldn't mind-" Glen narrows his eyes and pulls Paige up to a sitting position so they are face to face. "Are you trying to tell me something? Paige??"

Paige keeps a straight face for a few seconds, and then breaks into a grin. "Yes," she simply states.

Glen's eyes get so wide, she thinks they are going to pop out of his head. "Haa!" Glen whoops. "Haa!" He yells again, and jumps up, pulling Paige up with him, hugging her tight, and trying to keep himself from turning cartwheels. "Whoooo!" He yells even louder.

Prue and Phoebe come running from the kitchen. Piper and Leo come running from upstairs, each with a wet baby wrapped in a towel. "What? What is it?" Piper asks, putting one hand up, ready to freeze or blow up something.

"You didn't tell them?" Glen asks Paige, incredulous. "Can I? Can I tell them?"

"Go for it," says Paige, giggling.

"Somebody tell us!" Phoebe yells, "Do we have to kick some demon ass?"

"Ass!" Laughs little Wyatt, earning a glare from Piper to Phoebe.

"Baby!" Glen says. "We're gonna have a baby! Paige is pregnant!"

Phoebe squeals and rushes over to Paige. Everyone comes running over to the couple, hugging, laughing, crying. Phoebe is baby-talking to Paige's stomach.

"Paige, how long have you known?" asks Leo.

"I just found out this morning. I took a home test, and went to Ava for confirmation. We're gonna have another little witch running around in 8 months!"

"Half witch," says Glen.

"Quarter witch," says Leo. "Quarter white lighter."

"Oooh, this is so exciting!" says Phoebe, tearing herself away from Paige's stomach to hug Glen.

"I'm finally going to be there for a birth!" says Prue.

"Ugh, can we talk about birth later?" asks Paige. "Let's talk about where this baby is going to fit in this house!"

"No, that's depressing!" says Piper, "You guys will probably have to get a place of your own. Let's keep the mood fun! Let's have margaritas! Non-alcoholic, of course," she winks at Paige.

"I'll get the boys dressed," says Leo, and reaches for Chris from Piper's arms.

"Let me help," says Glen, taking Chris instead. "Let's let the girls talk for a few minutes, and you can give me some fatherly pointers." They head upstairs.

The sisters have another group hug.

"Finally! A pregnancy in this family that I'm not involved in!" Laughs Piper.

"I'm so excited!" says Phoebe. "What are you going to name her?"

"Her? What if it's another boy? Piper changed tradition," says Prue.

"I haven't thought that far enough ahead yet! I only found out today!" Paige says.

"Yeah, but you said eight months," Prue says, "so you've had to have been suspecting for a while, right?"

"About a week, I've been concerned."

"A week? Why didn't you say something? You could have talked to me about it, after all, I've been there!" says Piper.

"I just didn't want to get everyone all riled up until I knew for sure. I can't beleive it, I'm going to be a mama!"

Paige sits on the couch, Piper sits next to her. Phoebe and Prue sit together in the overstuffed chair. Paige is glowing, and Piper looks just as happy.

Just then, Piper gets a worried look on her face.

"What is it, honey? Asks Phoebe.

"Chris," Piper says. "He loves Glen so much, and he and Wyatt get so jealous over everything. Chris is going to be so jealous of your baby, Paige."

"We have eight months," Prue says, "We'll all work with Chris to help him understand. I'm sure it will be fine."

"Yeah," says Piper sarcastically, "and I'm just sure Wyatt will be thrilled when you have a baby."

Everyone laughs, until they notice white lights appearing, moving towards Prue. Wyatt appears on her lap, half dressed in his pajamas. "Pwue!" he giggles, and kisses her on the cheek.

"See what I mean?" asks Piper.

They hear Leo thundering down the steps. He dashes into the conservatory where the family is, and breathes a sigh of releif when he sees Wyatt with Prue. "Wyatt, you have GOT to stop doing that!" says an exasperated Leo. "That really worries Mommy and Dad. Come on, let's get the rest of your jammies on."

"No!" Yells Wyatt. "Pwue do!"

"Okay, I'll help you," says Prue, standing to take Wyatt upstairs.

Leo turns to Paige, as Glen enters, carrying a fully clad Chris. "See? This is what you have to look forward to!" They all laugh, and Paige stands up, walks toward Leo, gives him a big hug, and says, "We'll be learning from the best."


	7. Too Many Changes

A/N: Changed the format to past tense. I think it flows better this way. Get the tissues, you're gonna need 'em!

A week passed, and Glen and Paige were still giddy at the thought of being parents. Piper had taken advantage of this and made them babysit, so she could catch up on stuff at the club, and also to have a little private time with Leo. Magic preschool was great, but she felt guilty leaving the boys there more than a couple hours, a few times a week.

As Piper pulled her Jeep into the driveway, something at the house next door caught her eye. She debated whether or not to take a second look, because often when she did, she'd think of Dan, her ex-boyfriend that used to live there. She'd broken up with him because ultimately she knew she loved Leo. Dan was a great guy, and it still upset Piper to think of how she hurt him. Piper gave into her curiosity and took another glance.

"A For Sale sign? The Clayter's must have decided it was too hard to live next door to a house with so many occupants. Plus Prue just came back, and Glen has practically been living here, too, since we found out about the baby.... Now we're going to have to deal with new neighbors, and hope they don't call 911 everytime they hear screams and breaking glass coming from over here..." Piper's thoughts were interrupted by one of those screams, coming from inside her own house. "Great." She ran inside.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Piper, look out!" Paige yelled from across the room, as a warlock held an athame to her throat. The warlock looked up at Piper, who rose her hands to freeze him. Paige wriggled out of his grasp, panting, and Piper ran over to her. "Are you okay, Paige?"

"Yeah, thanks to you, sis," Paige breathed. "What are you waiting for, blow this creep up!"

As Piper was about to do just that, the warlock unfroze and threw his athame toward the girls. Piper did blow him up, but the athame kept going. It stabbed Piper in the shoulder. She immediately went down to the ground.

"Piper, Piper, are you okay? Leo!" Paige yelled, holding her sister and pulling out the knife. She applied pressure to the wound.

"Paige, it's just a little-" Piper started, looking at the bleeding area. She then noticed the glow coming from Paige's hand, and immediately felt her muscles mend.

"Paige, when did you learn to heal?"

Just then Leo orbed in. "Paige, what's wrong?"

"Uh, Piper was stabbed," she said, confused.

"Where is it, baby? Let me see so I can heal it."

Piper pulled the neck of her shirt to the side to expose the unbroken flesh. "Uh, Paige just healed me. Paige, when did you start doing that?"

"Huh?" asked Paige, looking at her hands in wonder. "I didn't know I could heal. That was the first time I've done it on my own, without Leo's help. I didn't think I'd ever master that power, but something in me just-" She stopped with realization, smiled, and looked down at her stomach. She rubbed her tummy and said, "Something in me, my baby! My baby can heal!"

"Well, that makes sense, since when I was pregnant with Wyatt his forcefield protected me. This is great Paige!" She hugged her sister. "Hey, are you okay? You're shaking!"

"Yeah, I'm shaking from excitement! You know I love Chris dearly, but we were all a little concerned he didn't have any powers for a while there. We know my baby has at least one power. It's just a relief. I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I didn't mean to bring up Chris' temporary lack of powers."

"It's okay, Paige," said Leo. "We all thought the same thing. But little Chris is just as powerful as his big brother now."

"Heeeey!" Phoebe called from the foyer. "Did you see the house next door?"

"Yeah, it's been there for years, Phoebs," said Paige, rolling her eyes.

"No, dummy, it's for sale! I wonder who's gonna move in? I hope he's sexy!"

"He is," said Glen, entering from the back door. "He's me. And Paige, I hope. I bought the house, honey, for us. And our baby. It's awfully crowded here, but with us being next door, you'll still be so close to your sisters, and it won't interfere with your Wiccan duties, or anything, and ... Paige, why aren't you saying anything?"

"'Cuz you won't give me a chance!" laughed Paige. "This is great! Piper, isn't he great?" She ran over to Glen and hugged him tightly.

"Yeah, he sure is something," said Piper. "I had just noticed the For Sale sign when I pulled up a while ago. But then I heard the screams, and-"

"Screams?" asked Phoebe, "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing unusual," said Piper. "Paige was attacked, I froze the warlock, Paige got free, he unfroze, threw an athame, I blew his ass up, but got stabbed anyway. Then Paige healed me.'

"Paige?" Phoebe asked, "Paige healed you?"

"Yeah!" giggled Paige, "it was the baby! She apparently has her powers already and wanted to help her Aunt Piper!"

"She?" asked Glen.

"Well, it's just a hunch," Paige replied.

"Hey guys!" Prue said, as she walked in from outside. "Did you all see the house next door? It was for sale this morning when I left, but the sign is gone now."

Glen ran into the kitchen and came back holding it. "You mean this sign? Paige and I are moving next door."

"Oh, this is exciting! Can I help decorate? You know I have impeccable taste in art, I'd be a great interior designer."

"Let's go check it out!" Paige smiled. "Piper is the only one that's been in that house before," she winked at Piper.

Piper rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Paige. Leo, go get the boys- Uh, Paige, where are the boys? You were babysitting!"

"They're fine!" Paige pulled the monitor off the mantle. "They're taking a nap."

As if on cue, they could hear one boy sigh in his sleep, and then the other yell out, "Mama! Where Mama?"

"Aw, thats my little Wyatt," smiled Prue. "He always asks for Mama as soon as he wakes up from his nap."

"I'll go get him," says Piper. "I know he loves all of you, but he's starting to freak me out a little with his obsession with you, Prue."

Everyone is walking around the empty house next door, making plans for furniture and a nursery.

Prue and Phoebe were upstairs in what might become the baby's room. "Ya know, Phoebe, Piper might be right. I think it's time I detach myself from Wyatt a little bit. You're the psych major, what do you think?"

"I think Wyatt just spent the first couple years of his life hearing stories about his Aunt Prue and how great she was, that when he finally got to meet you, he's been afraid to let go, you might go away again. Are you thinking of moving out?"

"Yeah. But if I do move out, you can have the whole basement to yourself again. It is a bit crowded with both of us down there."

"Not THAT crowded," laughed Phoebe. "Your wardrobe isn't what it used to be, most of the clothes down there are mine. That blouse is mine!" Phoebe tugged on the bell sleeve of the burgandy top Prue was wearing. Both girls laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Paige, entering, followed by Glenn.

"Nothing," smiled Phoebe. "Wouldn't this be a great room for the nursery? Lots of windows, the built-in book shelves over there, we could paint the walls and put down some throw rugs, and you could put a rocking chair right over there in the corner. And your live-in nanny could have the room next door."

"Nanny?" asked Glen. "We're going to have a nanny?"

Phoebe nudged Prue, and Prue gave her the evil eye. "Stop it, Pheebs, I didn't mean THIS!"

"This what?"

"Well, Prue is thinking she should move out, to detach from Wyatt a little, so I was thinking maybe she could stay here for a while. Still be close, and all..... What do you guys think?"

"I think we'll have to talk about it," says Paige.

"We don't need to talk about it, babe, she can live with us. We'll need the help with the baby, and this house DOES have five bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. Guess it's a good thing a carpenter lived here before us, huh?"

"Guys?" Paige said, "Uh, I'm not feeling to well." Paige started swaying, and grabbed onto Glen and Phoebe for support. They helped her to the ground, and Prue went running to the hall, yelling for Leo.

Leo and Piper ran into the room with the boys. "Paige, what is it? Are you okay?" asked Piper.

"Move over, let me see," said Leo. "Paige, what are you feeling?"

"I just got all woozy, and I couldn't stand anymore, and I-" Paige then fainted.

Several hours later, Paige woke up at Ava's clinic. She was hooked up to an IV and some other monitors. Glen was sitting in a chair next to her. She looked up at him, he hadn't noticed she was awake yet. His eyes were red, she could tell he'd been crying. Piper walked in then, firstly noticing Paige.

"Sweetie, how are you feeling? Can I get you anything?"

"No, what happened?"

"Shhh, just lay still for a minute. Ava's on her way from the lab. Here, have a sip of water."

Just then Ava entered, followed by Prue and Phoebe.

"Paige," Ava started. She came closer, and sat on the edge of her bed. "Paige," she started again, "I don't know how to tell you this, but... Paige, you miscarried. I'm sorry." She stroked Paige's hand as the realization set in.

Paige stammered. "But, how, why? Glen!" She reached for him, and Ava gently rose, quietly leaving the room. Piper and Prue followed. They stayed just outside the room, and could hear Glen and Paige crying and consoling each other.

"Ava, how could this happen?" Prue asked. "What went wrong?"

"I can't find an explanation, there's no medical evidence to back it up. Paige is perfectly healthy, and the amnio we did earlier this week showed everything was fine. I just don't know how this could have happened!"

Piper took a deep breath and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I need to go tell Leo what's going on and make she he is handling the boys alright. Come get me if you need me at all. Otherwise, I'll be back in a couple minutes. I just have to....hug my boys." Piper ran off, crying.

Prue peeked into Paige's room, felt heartbroken at the scene, and turned back to Ava. "There has to be an explanation. If not medical, then magical. Ava, I know you're a gypsy, you know we're witches. Something happened, and we need to find out what."

"Prue, I don't think that it was magical. Sometimes these things just happen. It wasn't their time, or it wasn't meant to be."

"That's bullshit," Prue stated. "If it wasn't meant to be, it wouldn't have happened to begin with. I know you denied your magical heritage for years, and even though you accept it now, you're still leary of what really happens out there, Ava. But this is not natural, at least not in this case. Are you going to help me or not?"

"Yes, you know I will Prue."

Outside, Piper was trying to not cry in front of the children, but relayed information to Leo. Chris was squirming, and definately upset by all the emotions flying around, and was trying to sort through them himself. Piper hugged him tighter, trying to emote feelings of love and security to comfort him, but torn all the same. She reached for Wyatt and he toddled over to her, and she held both her children tightly, silently crying, but guiltily feeling relief that her own babies were safe.

Phoebe touched Leo on the shoulder, and he stood up. They only looked at each other, and hugged, tears flowing freely, yet silently.

Back in Paige's room, she had stopped crying. She just couldn't cry anymore. Glen had pulled himself together, and was trying to be supportive of Paige, but was dying inside.

Paige had moved past the hurt, for now, and was in shock. "How could we miss a baby we hadn't even met yet? We barely even had time to adjust to the news. We didn't even have a name picked out. I guess it might have hurt worse, if we did." She rolled over, away from Glen, and stared out the window. She could see Piper outside, holding the boys, and Phoebe and Leo hugging and crying.

"Savannah," was all Glen said.

Paige rolled back over. "What?"

"I was thinking Savannah. I wanted to call her that."

"Oh Glen, I'm sorry. I was only thinking of myself. I sort of forgot you're going through this, too." She reached for him, but he didn't respond. He started crying again.

In Ava's office, she still refused to believe it was a magicall accident. Just because she accepted magic, and beleived again, didn't mean she wanted to consider it a possibility here. She shivered as a light breeze blew through her office. She went to close the window, but it was already shut. She froze, then slowly turned around.

A man was standing there, an evil man. She could feel it in her bones that he wanted to hurt her, and her friends. She tensed up as he started toward her. She started a gypsy chant, but the man kept coming. Just then Prue came in, looking for Ava to try and convince her again that there must have been demonic interference in Paige's miscarraige. She saw the man going for Ava, and flung her hand. The man flew across the room, smashing into a filing cabinet.

"Ava!" Prue ran toward her, they linked hands and as Prue cast a vanquishing spell, Ava chanted in her native tongue. The demon blew up, leaving only a scorch mark on the rug.

"Now do you beleive me?" Prue asked Ava.

They tracked down Phoebe, who had left Leo and Piper alone with their kids. She was on her way back to see Paige, when Prue and Ava told her what happened in the office. "Try and get a premonition, Phoebe."

Phoebe kneeled toward the stain, and pressed her hand against the charred outline. She gasped, and saw the recently deceased demon chanting at an altar, with a hologram of Paige and Glen laughing and smiling, Glen's hand on Paige's stomach. The demon completed his spell, and the scene of Paige and Glen happy faded. They were now devastated and miserable, Paige withdrawn inside herself, rejecting the love of her sisters and whitelighter, lost inside her own pain. The tricutta on the Book of Shadows drifted apart, and the demon smiled. Phoebe's premonition ended, and Phoebe falls to the ground, exhausted and crying. Prue and Ava help her to Ava's desk chair, and Phoebe relays the vision to them.

"That bastard! Trying to break up the Power of Four by devastating Paige! Well, he succeeded," Prue fumed. "He ripped away Paige's baby, but he's not going to destroy her. Come on Phoebe. Let's go tell Leo and Piper what happened, and then we're going to find out who that asshole was working for, and vanquish their evil souls to hell. We WON'T let this kill Paige, although it is going to do it's damnedest to. We WON'T let evil win this one." Prue stalked off, the anger rolling off her in waves. Phoebe and Ava exchanged a look of terror. Ava helped Phoebe up, and they ran after Prue.


	8. Eminent Danger

A/N: hated the way this chapter had turned out, so I reworked it. Thanks for all the reviews, and for keeping up with my fic! :)

And thanks to radciffe bass and leowhitelighter for adding me to their favorites list! And to all 9 of you who put me on author alert! can you tell I just discovered the stats function? :)

Marcus, maybe this revision is better?

Thanks to everyone for your reviews! xoxo

Prue, Phoebe and Ava caught up with the others outside.

"Boys, I have some lollipops in my office. Who wants one?" Ava squatted down level with the boys. At the mention of candy, which Piper rarely let them have, they jumped up and toddled toward her. Ava did her best to disguise her emotions, not wanting to upset the little empathic Chris.

"What's all this about?" asked Piper, watching the trio disappear into the clinic.

Before Prue answered, she looked over her shoulder, into Paige's room. Paige and Glen were both facing away from the window. "Ava and I just vanquished the demon that did this to Paige. Phoebe got a premontion."

"Whoa, whoa, this was demonic? A demon stole our neice?" asked Piper.

Phoebe quickly described her premonition to Piper and Leo.

"We have to go after whoever sent him. Phoebe's going to hit the Book of Shadows, Leo, drop Pheebs in the attic and go check with the Elders to see what they know," Prue directed.

Leo nodded, held out a hand to Phoebe, and they orbed away.

"Can't we have one damned event in this family NOT be ruined by demons?" exclaimed Piper. "What are we going to do? If they could conjure the baby right out of Paige's stomach, they have to be stronger than anyone else we've been up against. We're not going to be able to vanquish whoever it is, not without the Power of Four."

"The Power of Four won't be broken. Paige isn't going to get over this, probably ever, but she won't let anything keep her from being a witch. She's in really bad shape, and I have a feeling it's going to get worse before it gets better. But we can't let this kill her."

"Ooohhh..." Piper said, just realizing something. "If the demon conjured away Paige's baby, do you think he put it inside someone else? Like the seer did to Phoebe?"

"No, I don't think so. No one would be strong enough to carry a Charmed baby. I think the demon just vanquished it. With the Source gone, every faction in the underworld is trying to take over. What better way to be appointed the new Source than to keep the Charmed line from growing, and splitting up the Power of Four. With us out of the picture, the balance-"

"Yeah, yeah, the balance of good and evil greatly changes, the world gets thrown into chaos, blah blah. Heard it before. We have to stop it before it gets any further. Let's go."

After dropping the boys off at Magic Preschool, Prue and Piper meet Phoebe in the attic.

"There's nothing in here! I don't even know what I'm looking for! You and Ava vanquished him, Prue! How am I supposed to find who sent him? I've looked the book over three times!" Phoebe slammed the book shut, and gasped into another premonition. She saw the vanquished demon talking with another. A huge demon, with red skin, sitting on a throne-like chair. He held a huge orb in his massive hands, and in the orb, Phoebe could see herself and her sisters. The orb disappeared, and the earlier-vanquished demon bowed.

"What did you see?" Piper asked.

"Him!" Phoebe opened the book and turned to a page that she'd seen earlier. "Look, his name is Rewothan. He's an ancient demon. He's older than than the Elders? Oh no, how can we go up against that?" She sits down, right there on the spot.

Prue nudged her with the toe of her boot. "Get up. It says here that Rewothan was at one time the Source, but retired. Demons retire? Where do they go, Underworld Florida?" She kept reading. "Obviously no one has been able to vanquish him before. Killing must have lost its appeal. Must've pissed him off that the Charmed Ones come along and vanquish four Sources in six years. We'll just figure out how to vanquish him, too."

"But how?" Phoebe asked, getting up off the floor with help from Piper. "What are we going to do, read his medic alert bracelet to find his downfall? There's noting in the Book to help us out! No vanquishing spell, no potions!"

"We'll make the strongest potion we've ever made. We'll write a spell," Piper babbled, ticking off the ideas on her fingers. "Ava will help. We'll use the combination of the spell Cole helped Phoebe write, with the part Ava threw in there, and the new Power of Four spell, and we'll summon Grams and Mom, and all the Halliwell witches, and Melinda Warren, even!"

"Piper! Calm down! I'm the one that's supposed to get irrational!" Phoebe said.

Leo orbed in, looking very upset. "The Elders had no idea who was doing this, until Phoebe got that premintion a few minutes ago. One of the oldest Elders somehow intercepted it and saw it too. The world as we know it is in serious trouble. When Rewothan retired, the Elders were able to constitute. The original Elders were made up of good witches and the souls of good people and beings that had lost their lives trying to defeat him. It's his disappearance that let the balance slowly turn back to our side. Many of the Elders up there now thought he was just a legend. They never believed Rewothan would come back, let alone ever existed. Rewothan's return.... is inevitably Armageddon."

The girls gasped. "The Elders don't even have any hope?"

"No," Leo answered solemly.

They stood in silence for a few moments.

"Leo, go get the boys and take them to the Elders. If we're going to save existence, they are damned well going to protect them for a while. We have some major ass-kicking to do. Make sure you put the anti-orbing charm on Wyatt-and Chris. We need to be sure they aren't going to pop on in when they get bored with the Elders, or miss their mom." Prue turned on her heel and walked out of the attic.

Leo orbed out, and Phoebe and Piper stayed rooted, very freaked out, and terrified. If they failed, not only would they die, but the entire universe would be destroyed.

Prue was making a list in the kitchen. "Potion ingredients, charms, amulets, candles."

"Prue, what are you doing?" Piper asked as she and Phoebe had finally pulled themselves together and entered the kitchen.

"I'm preparing. How are we going to tell Paige?"

"Tell me what?" Paige and Glen had just entered from the back door, followed by Ava. "What's going on? When Ava stopped answering questions and tried to avoid me, I knew there was more to it than nature's law."

"Paige, I think you need to go back to the clinic. You-"

"Save it. Spill."

Prue walked Paige over to the table and sat her down. As gently as possible she explained what happened since Paige fainted earlier that day.

Glen was freaking out, he started ranting and raving, was understandably pissed off. Just as he started swearing off magic and good and evil and all that went with it, Piper froze him.

"Sorry," she said to Paige. "I had to."

Paige just shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts. "So what are we going to do?"

"You are going back to the clinic so you can recooperate."

"The hell I am! I lost my baby to this bastard! I will get revenge. You will not stop me. Screw the Elders, they've had surprisingly litle faith in us all along. We'll save the damn world like we always do, and then the damn Elders can kiss my ass. What's the plan so far?"

"Don't we normally need a piece of the demon's flesh for the vanquishing potion?" asked Paige, who seemed like she had no emotional problems of her own, much to the worry of her sisters.

"Yeah," said Phoebe, adding some herbs to the potion vat. "But I don't know how we're supposed to get it. I'm supposing he won't freeze, so we can't use the tried and true method. We're sorta just winging it right now."

"I'll get the crystal. I'm going ot scry for him, and when I find him, I'll orb in behind him, take him by surprise, and bring home a little souvinir," Paige stated.

"No, that's too risky. I'll do it," said Prue. "Well, Astral Prue will. I can get in there and project out of there faster than you can orb. I've got a better chance. We need to have this potion as ready as possible, because when I get back here with his flesh, he's not going to be far behind. I don't think this potion will have any cooling time after the last ingredient is added," she smirked.

"This is madness!" Glen started raving again, after unfreezing for the fifth time. "Don't you dare think of doing that to me again, Piper! I'm in this, too! I have just as much right as the rest of you-"

"Glen, we've been through this. You're powerless, defenseless against Rewothan."

"So are you."

"We have the Power of Four. End of discussion," said Paige, and she nodded toward Ava. Ava grudgingly walked up behind Glen and inserted a hypo into his shoulder.

"What the hell?" Glen twirled arond to face Ava. "You can't just-" Klunk. He hit the floor. Ava had given him a fast-acting sedative. Leo orbed Glen up to the Elders, with Piper yelling after them, "Tell them they owe us! They have to keep Glen for a while! He won't remember it anyway!"

She tossed in some of the grated unicorn horn they had left over. She didn't see how it was going to work, but she was putting everything she could think of into this potion.

"This house was built on the nexus. With all the good magic gathered here, it's only a matter of time before Rewothan realizes we're here and attacks. We will be ready." Paige said, mostly to herself as she ground up some herbs with a pestule.

"Are you sure you didn't turn her into Ares again?" Piper asked Leo, as he'd just return from above. "Wait, can we do that? Could we all become gods again?"

"No, after the last time, the Elders destroyed the powder that could give those powers to you."

"And whose brilliant idea was that? I swear Leo, no offense, but the Elders are idiotic! They're just so concerned about the rules, and making all of us die early, and losing the ones we love, that they don't think about consequences of their own actions!"

Leo pulled Piper in for a hug, but she shrugged him away. "Are the Elders pissed we demanded they take care of Wyatt, Chris and Glen?"

"Well, they said when Glen comes to, he can help entertain the boys. Chris doesn't like it up there. It's fine, they'll be safe, and that's all that matters."

"I guess this is it," Prue sighed. She and Ava had revised the family line spell, and they'd gone over the details of Astral Prue's sudden attack on Rewothan. Prue was seated on a stool right next to the cauldren so when her astral self returned, she's be ready to toss in the flesh. The others stood by with ladles, so they could quickly scoop up some of the mixture. They knew there'd be little, if any, time once Prue sliced the demon.

Suddenly, windows burst, wind ripped through the manor, knocking lamps and vases over, and through a swirling vortex, Rewothan himself entered the manor.

"He's a step ahead of us!" Piper called through the roaring wind that accompanied his entrance. Hair was whipping around everywhere. Ava involuntarily cowered into the corner. Rewothan didn't seem to care, he was after the Charmed Ones, not their little gypsy friend. "Go, Prue, go!"

Prue sat down, and bowed her head. Piper, thinking fast to buy some time, threw vials of earlier discarded potion toward Rewothan, to distract him. They obviously didn't work, but she didn't know what else to do. Astral Prue appeared behind Rewothan, took out a chunk of his shoulder muscle, and as she was trying to project back to herself, Rewothan swung around and knocked her back, screaming in pain of his sliced flesh. As Prue fell, she dropped the flesh.

"Nice try," Rewothan's voice was like ice, and fire together. It was deep and scratchy, and unlike anything they'd ever heard before. He turned back to Paige, Phoebe and Piper. He raised his hands and energy balls, greater than any they'd ever seen before, appeared. Prue projected back into her body, not knowing where the flesh landed. She linked hands with her sisters, and shouted, "You won't succeed in killing us! We have the Power of Four!" They started chanting the spell, but all that it did to Rewothan was slow him down a bit. He kept toward them, as if walking against gale winds. The distance between them was closing fast.

"Ava, help!" Phoebe screamed, and resumed the spell. Ava jerked back to reality, hoping it had all been a dream. She started to jump up, but noticed a bloody spot on the floor. The flesh! It had landed right beside her! She picked it up, and leapt from the floor, to toss it in the pot, but Rewothan saw her. He cast the energy ball at her. She saw it coming in slow motion. "Noooo!" she screamed. In a split second she tossed the flesh to the sisters, but she was caught in the fire. As the energy ball collided with her, she was thrown back into the cupboard, lifeless.

Phoebe grabbed the flesh from the counter, tossed it into the pot, and they each grabbed a spoonful. They flung it toward Rewothan with all their might, still chanting their spell. The potion seared his flesh, but wasn't enough to kill him. He writhed in pain, but kept toward them, a bit slower than before.

They kept yelling, but Rewothan had conjured a new fire ball, larger than the energy ball that had killed Ava. Lightning bolts crackled the air around him. The wind became so fierce now that no one could see clearlyl, but they continued to chant.

Prue loosened one hand, from Phoebe, and flicked her wrist. The cauldren, along with the remaining vanquishing potion, flung across the ever-shrinking space between witches and demon, and covered Rewothan. His flesh sizzled more, he screamed louder. He had been blinded by the liquid, but still fought. Blindly he threw the fireball, which went directly between Paige and Piper's heads. Maybe it was her imagination, but Paige thought the wind was slightly weaker. She could focus her eyes now, and saw whitelights orbs behind Rewothan.

Leo and Piper noticed this too, and gasped. "It can't be them! We made sure of it!"

"Are you SURE??" Piper yelled.

"Yes!!" Leo exclaimed. "Keep saying the spell!"

Out of white orbs appeared Excalibur, the sword that was supposed to be in storage in the attic, waiting for Wyatt to grow up. The sword penetrated Rewothan from behind, and with one final scream, he finally vanished. It was done. The wind stopped immediately.

"What happened?" Phoebe asked.

Piper looked astounded. "How the hell did this happen? Not that I'm complaining, but-"

"Hell!" Little Chris squealed, as he and Wyatt orbed in.

Piper and Leo's heads snapped around to the spot where Chris was. There he stood with Wyatt, next to where Excalibur had landed after the vanquish. The boys had orbed in the sword, and when the danger was over, orbed in themselves.

Piper rushed over to the boys and nudged the sword away from them with her foot. Excalibur slowly faded away until it was completely gone. "Well, now we know what that sword was really destined for."

Prue rushed over to Ava's limp body, crying. "Leo, help! Heal her!"

Leo ran to her side, and held his hands over Ava's wounds. "I can't!" Leo cried, "I can't, she's gone!"

"Keep trying!" Prue shoved him.

Paige ran over, linking her hands with Leo's, trying to tap into her healing power, even though her baby was no longer there to help. She'd helped Leo heal in the past, maybe it would work now. But it didn't. They weren't able to help Ava. Prue and Phoebe cried silent tears at the loss of their friend.

Piper looked up from where she was still kneeling with her sons as two Elders appeared in her kitchen. "I'd say your anti-orbing charms DIDN'T WORK!" She stands up huffily, toe-to-toe with one of them. "But, now that my kids have saved the freaking world, can we get a damn break?"

"I'd say the whole world can take a break, for a while," breathes out the taller Elder.

Piper slowly looks around at the mess the battle had left.

"You deserve this," said the other Elder. He waved a hand, and the mess was restored. Everything appeared back to normal.

"Did I deserve this?" Paige asked quietly, speaking for the first time since chanting the spell. She held a hand to her stomach. "And did Ava deserve to die?" she said as she looked toward Ava's body, lying on the cold tile floor. Prue placed a blanket over her.

"Oh, Paige, honey, of course you didn't deserve this! And neither did Ava." Phoebe hugged Paige, and shot a dirty look at the Elders.

"Paige," the taller Elder said, "we are so sorry for your loss. There is no way to restore what has been taken from you. If there were anything we could do-"

"What, you'd do it?" Piper asked. She rolled her eyes. "Why don't you guys just give us a damn break!" She went to hug Paige, too, followed by Prue. "And send Glen back," she added, as an afterthought.

"After what we did, and lost, today, you owe us this time." She steered Paige out of the living room, to the stairs.

Glen orbed in, on the landing to the staircase. He looked around, a bit shocked, but just followed the sisters upstairs. He threw one last nasty glare at the Elders ,who were now standing in the foyer, before his memories of being up there faded.

Leo picked up his sons, and went upstairs, too, unspeaking.

The Elders knew the Charmed Ones had never been through anything like this before, and understood why Piper lashed out at them. The only consequences that came from today, were those that only the loss of an innocent baby and dear friend could bring. They went back to the kitchen, to Ava, knelt, and orbed her body away.


	9. Next Step

A/N: Sorry, this chapter isn't as good as the others, but it's mostly to get a feel for what will happen next.

It had been two weeks since Rewothan was vanquished. Paige had been avoiding Glen. They weren't even staying at one another's houses anymore. Every time Glen called, Paige refused to speak to him. But that's where the oddness ended. Sort of. Paige was going about her life as if nothing had happened. She went back to her job as a social worker. She worked extra long hours. She talked to her sisters about everyday stuff. Just never about the baby, Glen, Rewothan, or evil whatsoever.

"No, Glen, Paige isn't here. Yes, I'll tell her you called. Okay. Bye." Piper replaced the phone in it's cradle.

"Glen again?" Phoebe asked.

"No, I just called someone else 'Glen,' of course it was him!" Piper sniped.

"Well you don't have to bite my head off," Phoebe pouted.

"I swear, Pheebs, sometimes I wonder if you were really meant to be blonde."

"Hey guys!" Paige sailed into the kitchen. "What's up?"

Piper and Phoebe exchanged a look. Piper decided not to tell her Glen had called again. Everytime she told her, Paige would change the subject. "Just telling Phoebe what a dumbass she is."

"Hey!" Phoebe pouted. "If you keep picking on me, I'm gonna tell Prue!"

"Good luck tellling Prue anything. She's been working so much, we never see her anymore." Piper cast a sidelong glance at Paige, wondering if she'd pick up on the fact that not only was Piper talking about Prue, but Paige too.

Paige grabbed an apple off the counter and picked up her bag. "I'm off to work. Bye!"

The two sisters sat in silence for a few moments. "How does she do it?" Piper asked. "How does she pretend to be so cheery, when we obviously know she's dying inside. Why won't she let us support her? Why won't she talk to Glen?"

"She's in denial. Ususally this stage of grief doesn't last this long. I think she should see someone for it."

"Like who? The only doctor we knew that was aware of the magical world died. Right over there." Piper looked at the spot Ava had last been seen. She closed her eyes tight, and turned away.

"I don't know who!" Phoebe exclaimed. But she needs to work through it!"

"Great! Okay, now turn this way. Tilt your chin, pefect! That's a wrap!" Prue Halliwell smiled as she started packing up her camera equipment.

"Thanks! This was one of the funnest shoots I've been on!" Prue was labelling some rolls of film.

"No, thank you. I was dreading this. I know it's for a good cause, but I usually hate this. Being in the limelight, all this attention."

"If you hate it, then why did you become a firefighter?" Prue asked.

"I wanted to help people." He simply shrugged. "Plus, this uniform is a great chick magnet!"

Prue laughed, and packed up the last of the stuff. "This is going to be a great spread. I'm glad Elise talked me into coming. I didn't know that the Firefighters organized so many drives, for toys, clothes, toiletries. You guys really do love the people you save, huh?"

"What I'd really love is to take you out to dinner. How 'bout it?" Alden cocked his head to the side, and his blue-green eyes twinkled.

"Oh, and how can I resist such a great smile?" Prue smiled herself, and slung her camera bags over her shoulder "How about Thai?"

Later that evening, Piper and Phoebe were sitting at the table, eating dinner. Leo had fed the boys earlier, they couldn't wait, and they were playing toss with nerf balls in the backyard.

"Looks like Paige and Prue have ditched us again," sighed Phoebe, poking at her salad with her fork. She picked up a cucumber with her fingers and popped it in her mouth.

"Prue called, she's having dinner with Alden."

"Who's that?"

"Someone she met today at work. Pass the tomatoes."

Just then, Paige breezed in through the back door. "Did you know your kids are jumping all over your husband? I think Wyatt might have pinned him to the ground."

Piper rolled her eyes. "I've never understood male bonding. Paige, do you want to meet me on your lunch break tomorrow? I'm having a meeting with a band's manager at P3 tomororw around one, and you know all about this band. I think your being a fan will help encourage them to play there."

"Sure. I'll be there about ten till." She sat down at the table and mixed up a salad for herself. But she didn't eat it. She did however, drink three glasses of the sun brewed tea Phoebe had made.

"Paige," asked Phoebe, "do you want to go shopping with me and Prue this weekend? She's still tring to get her wardrobe back up to where it once was."

"What's up with you guys wanting me to do all this stuff?"

"We always do stuff together. We're sisters." Phoebe sounded hurt.

"Piper, I'll come to the club tomorrow, but I won't go shopping, Phoebe. I have plans."

"Oh?" Phoebe perked up. "With who?"

"Me," Paige said, meaning herself.

The next day, Piper had sat through the meeting by herself. Paige had never shown. Piper was really worried now. Paige would have at least called... As Piper drove her Jeep downtown to the Family Services building, she wondered what could have held up Paige. She knew it had to be important, one of Paige's cases, or something. She pulled into a visitor space and walked through the doors. She went to the office and asked for Paige.

"Paige Mathews?" the receptionist asked quizzically.

"Yeah, my sister Paige Mathews."

"Um, Paige doesn't work here anymore, Piper. She quit last year."

"Last year? But she-" Piper stopped herself. "Thanks," she said to the lady and turned away. As soon as she got outside, she called Prue on her cell.

"Hello?"

"Prue, it's Piper."

"Piper, it's not really a good time, I'm at lunch with Alden."

"Prue, it's about Paige!"

"Paige? What is it? Is she hurt?"

"Well, duh, but that's not it. She didn't show up at P3, so I went to her office. Prue, she hasn't worked there in over a year."

"What?" Prue demanded. "Why would she lie about something like that? Piper, I'll meet you at P3 in a few minutes. Bye."

Alden, I'm sorry, I have to go. My youngest sister is in trouble, and needs me."

"What is it? Is she going to be okay?"

Prue hesitated for a second, and then decided to tell Alden a little bit. At least she wasn't making up excuses to go vanquish demons this time.

"Well, Paige lost a baby two weeks ago, and she's in serious denial. She won't talk to her boyfriend, she won't talk about it at all, and now, Piper, one of my other sisters, said that Paige isn't even going to work. She's been lying about it. We have to go find her. I'm sorry. Raincheck?"

Alden was fishing something out of his wallet.

"No, let me, it's my turn." Prue tossed a twenty and a ten on the table.

"No, I wasn't doing that, but thanks." He smiled. "No, my older brother is a shrink, and he specializes in depression. Maybe he can help her, when she's ready."

"Thanks," Prue smiled as she stood up. She leaned to kiss Alden on the cheek. "I'll call you later, okay?"

At P3, Piper and Phoebe were waiting for Prue. Piper had called Phoebe right after talking to Prue. "What are we going to do about this? She can't stay in denial forever!"

"I don't see what we can do except support her and be there for her," Phoebe said. "You can't help someone that doesn't want to be helped."

The doors slammed open. Paige was standing at the top of the stairs. "I'm sorry I'm late Piper! Did he already leave?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago."

"Prue? Phoebe? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Shouldn't we be asking you that, Paige?" Phoebe asked. Piper elbowed her in the ribs. Phoebe ignored this and kept going. "Paige, Piper was worried when you bailed on the meeting, so she went to your office. They said you didn't work there anymore. What's going on?"

After a bit of shouting, denial, and more shouting, Paige finally broke down. She cried about everything that had happened in the past month. She told her sisters how she'd been just wandering the streets of San Francisco for days, and visiting the church whee she'd been left as a baby. Sister Agnes had gotten her to talk about it, but was worried that Paige's voice was emotionless. Paige had confided in Sister Agnes, and told her everything. She knew the sister would be able to handle knowing about magic, after seeing Paige's parents appear before her in the church all those years ago. Sister Agnes had been supportive, and tried to help, but Paige had been stoic. Sister Agnes had asked the priest for help, but didn't tell him any of the magical details. Paige had listened to him, but nothing sank in. She remained stone-faced. After leaving the church that day, she realized she was late for the meeting at P3, and there she was now, in the middle of a breakdown, with her sisters comforting her.

Leo orbed in. "I sensed pain. Is everyone okay?" Paige was sobbing in Prue's arms. Piper rushed over to Leo and whispered to him. "Paige has moved past denial. We're trying to help, but.... where are the boys?"

"I left them with Sheila Morris. Darryl was due home soon, and they were going to feed the boys dinner."

"That's fine. I think we're going to have to be spending lots of time with Paige for a while. Leo, go join the kids and our friends. We'll call if we need you."

"But-"

"Just go. This is a sister thing."

Leo nodded, and orbed away. Piper returned to her sisters. Paige had turned to Phoebe now. Phoebe had been the first of the three that Paige had bonded with, and they were obviously a little closer than Paige was with her other sisters. They were all close, of course, but Phoebe and Paige had a different bond.

"Paige," Prue started, "I told Alden just a tiny bit of what was happening, when I left him on our lunch date. He gave me this," She pulled out the card. "Paige, Alden's brother, Aiden, is a psychiatrist. He thinks he can help you. Obviously not with the magical aspects, but Paige, you need to deal with the emotional aspects, too."

Paige continued to cry into Phoebe's arms, as Phoebe stroked her hair. Paige looked up at Prue, then at the card. She reached out for it.

The next day, Paige sat in Aiden's, or Dr. Scott's office. She was very nervous. Dr. Scott had started out asking about her childhood.

"Only child? What about your sisters?"

"I was adopted at birth. I didn't know I had sisters until Prue di--er, she left for a while, with the witness protection program, and then I found out about my real mom. And I found my sisters."

They talked some more, not mentioning the baby or Glen. Dr. Scott had explained that for their first session, he just wanted to get to know Paige, so he could better understand her pain. When the hour was up, Dr. Scott walked Paige to the reception area. Phoebe stood up to meet Paige. She had planned on driving Paige home, and maybe stopping for ice cream, to see if she wanted to talk alone before going home. Paige introduced Phoebe to Dr. Scott. As their hands met to shake, Phoebe got a premontion. It wasn't an overbearing one, so she didn't gasp, but her breath caught in her throat. She saw Dr. Scott making a potion, throwing it, and vanquishing a demon.

As their hands met, Dr. Scott realilzed what had happened to Phoebe. Premonition was his power, too.

"Come back into my office," he said to the girls.

They all sat down. Paige didn't know what was going on, but she recognized Phoebe's mannerisms when she had the premonition. She was a bit on edge, till she noticed Phoebe was completely relaxed, smiling even.

"Dr. Scott, you're a-"

"Yes, I'm a witch. Paige," he said, turning to her, "are you a witch, too?"

"How did you know?"

"It seems your sister and I have the same power. I hold my breath like that and close my eyes too, when I get a premontion. What's your power, Paige?"

"Pen!" Paige called. Then pen orbed from the desk onto her palm. She sat it back on the desk. "So, does this mean Alden is a witch, too?"

"Yes, he is. But he doesn't know your sister Prue is, or you for that matter, or he would have told me. We so rarely meet up with magical witches, so when we do, we talk about it a great deal."

"But you can't tell Alden about us! Prue won't want him to know she's a witch, even if he is, too."

"It's okay, I won't tell him. I'm sure if it's meant to be, she will tell him on her own. Now Paige, that we know each other's secrets, do you think we can talk again tomorrow? About what's really bothering you? You can trust me, Paige, with everything."

"Yes," Paige said, standing up, "I'l be here tomorrow, same time." For the first time in days, Paige smiled a genuine smile. And so did Phoebe. Not only was her sister going to get help, but help from a very hot, very sexy doctor.


	10. Secrets Revealed

"Well, why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Piper. I was in a bind, and I knew Darryl was at work for a little while longer, and I knew Sheila wouldn't be able to turn me away when I showed up on her doorstep with the boys. Even though Darryl doesn't want anything to do with us anymore, Sheila still knows that we are doing good things, and wanted to help in any way she could. But man, when Darryl came back, he must have hit the ceiling. I orbed in a few minutes after he got there, and he was livid. He was keeping his actions calm, so he wouldn't upset Chris, but his words were like ice. Piper, I don't think Darryl will ever be our friend again." Leo was visibly upset by what had happened the previous evening. He had sensed so much pain with the sisters, especially Paige, during her emotional breakdown the day before at P3. He really didn't have much time to react, he let his instincts take him to the Morris house. "I really hope this didn't cause a rift between Darryl and Sheila. They have enough in their own lives to worry about, they don't need to be fighting over us. I wish I could have come up with a better idea, but I didn't think there was enough time."

Piper sighed. She, as were her sisters, was so upset by Darryl's reaction to them, shortly before Prue came back. He had almost died by lethal injection, and of course magic was to blame. He told the sisters he just couldn't handle it anymore. He couldn't cover for them, and he couldn't be their friend anymore. Not only that, he didn't want anything at all to do with them again-ever.

"I'm sure they'll work through it. They've been through a lot together. I just feel so bad..." Piper's voice trailed off, and she momentarily got lost in thought. The boys were actually taking a nap at the same time, and since Phoebe had taken Paige to her first appointment with Dr. Scott, and Prue, of course out again with Dr. Scott's brother Alden, the house was quiet. For a moment, she was considering taking advantage of the situation and running upstairs with Leo, but then the front door opened.

"Well, we're back," Paige sighed as she hung up her jacket and purse. She and Phoebe walked into the living room where Piper and Leo were. Phoebe was kind of antsy, and Paige was, well Paige was Paige, or the Paige she had been for the last two weeks anyway. She looked at Phoebe, who was dancing around like she needed to go to the bathroom. Paige flopped down into a chair, and said, "Fine! Tell them already, before you burst!"

Phoebe braced herself. "Dr. Scott is a witch! And so is Alden!"

"What?" Piper gasped. "What are you talking about?"

Phoebe told them what happened near the end of the session. "But, Aiden, I mean, Dr. Scott, didn't know we were witches until I got that premonition, which means that Alden doesn't know Prue is a witch, and Prue obviously doesn't know that Alden is one, too! This is so soap opera-esque!" She finally sat down on the couch.

"So, are we gonna tell Prue?" Piper asked.

"No," said Paige. "It's Alden's secret to keep, just like it's Prue's secret. They'll tell each other when they're ready, but until then, I'm going to have to not talk to Prue about my sessions, or it might slip. And you know Prue, she'll get pissed that he didn't trust her enough to tell her, even though she was doing the same thing, and it will all blow up. I just don't want to deal with a break up right now. I know that sounds selfish, but Dr. Scott said I can be selfish right now."

"I know what you mean," said Piper. "As much as we love her, we all know how Prue can get."

"How can I get?" Asked Prue as she walked in.

"Oh, nothing," said Phoebe. "Just that you get crabby when there are no more grapes, and I ate the rest. So, I'm off to the market! Anyone coming? No? Okay," she squished up her eyebrows and walked away quickly.

"Paige, how was your session with Aiden? Or do you have to call him Dr. Scott?" Prue asked from the kitchen, checking on the grape situation. She found some in a bowl right in front. She rolled her eyes and grabbed them, returning to the living room.

"Well, we just talked about my background, mostly. Not about my problems. Not yet anyway. I'm going back tomorrow. Prue, I know you were just trying to help, and I'm grateful for it, but can you not talk to your boyfriend about my situation anymore?"

"I'm sorry Paige. I won't, I promise." She flopped down next to Paige in the overstuffed chair and offered her some grapes. Piper nudged Leo, and they took advantage of being temporarily forgotten by the two sisters, and ran upstairs to be alone while the boys were still napping. "And he's not my boyfriend, anyway." She smiled.

"Oh? Well you sure see enough of him! Two meals one day, a movie another, and didn't you just come from being with him?"

"Oh shut up!" Prue playfully smacked Paige with a pillow. "Just because we go out all the time, doesn't mean we're an item, yet."

"And aren't you afraid he might be a demon?" Paige asked, a little too matter-of-factly, since she knew for a fact Alden was not a demon, but a witch.

"No! Well, yeah. I'm thinking of asking Piper to help me with the test."

"Test?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, we used to do it all the time. She'd freeze someone, and then I'd prick him with a needle, and if he bled red, he wasn't a demon." Prue smiled smugly, and reached for the remote.

Paige wriggled out of the one person chair they were both sharing and moved to the couch. "And what if he doesn't freeze at all? Has that ever happened?"

"Well, no... But if he doesn't freeze, he's definately good."

"Isn't it just good _witches_ that don't freeze?" Paige asked.

"Paige, are you trying to tell me something?"

"No, no. Nothing. Just curious." She stood up. "It's been a long day. I need a nap."

"Yeah, well why don't you take one in my room? I think there's some commotion going on in the room next to yours!" They both laughed, and Paige headed for the basement, where Prue shared a big room with Phoebe. Prue settled in to watch All My Children, which she rarely got to do these days.

That evening, Prue was, of course, out with Alden. Piper was upstairs, giving the boys a bath. There were bubbles everywhere, and the whole bathroom was wet from the splashing. Wyatt splashed some bubbles into Chris' eyes, and as Piper wiped them out, Chris squinted and threw a splash of bubbly water right into Wyatt's face. Wyatt started crying.

"Well," Piper said to Wyatt, wiping his eyes now, "That's what you get for picking on your little brother. Now you guys play nice. It's almost time for bed."

"No bed!" said the suddenly cranky Wyatt.

"Nonoonono!" said baby Chris, smacking his hands on the water, splashing some more.

Piper laughed, and bundled them both into hooded towels. She carried them into their room, and sat them on a bed. As she was drying them off, the phone rang. "Can someone get that?" No response. The phone kept ringing. "Oh for cryin' out loud! You boys BE GOOD! Mommy will be right back, okay?"

She ran to the hallway for the phone. "Hello?" she asked.

"Piper, it's Darryl."

"Darryl?"

"Yeah, listen, is Leo there?"

"No, it seems it's just me and the boys. I just got them out of the bathtub," she said, as she craned her neck to peek in at them, making sure they were still being good. Wyatt was squirting baby lotion all over the blankets. Piper rolled her eyes, wanting to get the mess cleaned up before it got worse, but very curious as to what Darryl wanted.

"Look, I just wanted to apologize to him for the way I acted last night. I know it wasn't your guys' fault that I almost got killed, but it was directly related to me being close to you girls."

"We understand, Darryl. We know what it's like, coming up with cover stories all the time. We know what it's like to lose someone to evil, too, and we don't want to lose you. We aren't upset with you for your decision." Now Wyatt was unfolding all the clean diapers and throwing them around. Chris was giggling gleefully, as Wyatt and put a clean diaper on his head, and started jumping up and down on the bed.

"Darryl, I really gotta-"

"Piper, just hear me out. I haven't changed my mind, I can't help you guys anymore, but I don't want to hate you anymore. I know you're doing good, and I know there would be a whole lot more trully unsolved cases if it weren't for you and your sisters. I just wanted to apologize to Leo, and tell you guys that I love you, but it's still gotta be over."

"Oh Darryl," Piper said, at a loss for words. Finally she said, "We love you too." She heard the click as Darryl hung up. She reflected for a moment, until she heard a loud thud, and then crying. Wyatt had jumped himself right off the bed.

"Wyatt! Are you okay? Wait a minute, what kind of question is that? Of course you're okay, you can heal yourself." She picked him up and rocked him back and forth. "Shhh, it's okay. You'll be okay. But no more jumping on the bed, okay?"

Chris decided to be jealous, and started whimpering. Piper waddled over to him and picked him up, too. She sat down with both of them in a rocking chair, and sighed. Then baby Chris pulled out the baby powder and squeezed. They were all covered in white powder. Piper let out a little sneeze, just as Leo walked in.

"What's going on here?"

"See? I told you these guys were gonna give me gray hair!" Piper laughed, imagining how she looked, covered in the powder. All of her hair must appear gray.

After the boys were tucked into bed, and Piper had relayed her conversation with Darryl to Leo, the phone rang again. Leo answered it, hoping to talk to Darryl himself. But it was Dr. Scott.

"Hello Dr. Scott. Paige actually was very tired and went to bed early. Can I give her a message?"

"Actually, I was calling for Phoebe."

Leo raised an eyebrow and handed the phone to her. After several minutes of giggling and small talk, Phoebe said, "Tomorrow sounds great. But I have to run it by Paige first. Okay, bye!" She smiled as she hung up.

"I have got a date with the very sexy, and very witchy Dr. Aiden!"

"Phoebe, keep your voice down! What if Prue hears you?"

Phoebe shook her head. "Paige already planted some seeds of suspicion in Prue's head. We can't keep this secret from her long, so the sooner she finds out, the better. Alden better be speaking up, cuz you know us, we can't keep our mouths shut!" Phoebe skipped out of the room, making a mental note to talk to Paige about her dating Dr. Aiden, first thing in the morning.

Meanwhile, Prue was out with Alden. Suddenly, his pager went off. He quickly skimmed the message. "Uh, Prue, I really gotta go. It's an emergency."

Prue narrowed her eyes in thought. "It gives off a different beep if it's a fire. What's going on?" Her little chat with Paige earlier had her being overly paranoid.

"It's a personal emergency. I gotta run!" He jumped up and threw some bills on the bar at P3, which Piper had decided to keep called P3. He ran up the stairs and out the door. Prue decided to do some spying. She followed him to what she assumed was his house. He stormed in the house, and she kept in the bushes. She peeked into the window and saw Alden with his brother Aiden. What were they doing? Why did it look like they were throwing a potion at a demon? The third man in the house exploded, with nothing but a scorch mark left behind. Prue stood up quickly. "Oh, oh. He IS A witch! I'm gonna KILL Paige! After I kill Alden!" She stalked right into the house.

"Alden! You've got some explaining to do!"

He and Aiden jumped at the sound of another voice in the house. They relaxed when they realized it was only Prue. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and had a very bad look on her face.

"Prue, I, uh, it's not what it looks like! We were just, uh, -"

"Yes," Aiden interruped, "it IS what it looks like. We vanquished a demon, we're witches, too."

"Aiden! You can't just tell her that! Wait, 'too?' What do you mean, 'too?'"

Aiden laughed, and invited Prue to sit down. He told them how he found out the sisters were witches, and told Paige and Phoebe he was a witch, too, hoping it would form a stronger connection between him and Paige. He really thought this connection would help her open up and heal better.

"And why didn't you tell me?" Alden asked.

"Because Paige asked me not to. Doctor/patient confidentiality," he laughed.

"And why didnt' my sisters tell me?" asked Prue.

"They said it was Alden's secret to keep, and you could relate. So, now that you know, are you pissed?"

"Yes! No. I don't know!" Prue laughed. "I guess I shouldn't be, since I was keeping a secret just as big from you. I've gotta let this sink in. Of all the people I've dated before, magical or not, I've never been with another witch before!"

"Well neither have I," Alden said, pulling Prue into a hug. Aiden rolled his eyes and quietly left the room. "I guess there's a first time for everything. Will the be a first time for us?" His blue-green eyes twinkled, and he leaned in to kiss Prue. "Let's get outta here. My place is ten minutes away."


	11. Healing Begins

The next day, Phoebe and Paige were having breakfast.

"Paige," asked Phoebe, "would it upset you if I went out with Aiden? I mean, Dr. Scott?"

Paige looked surprised. She didn't quite know what to say.

"I'm sorry, nevermind," Phoebe said, reaching over to hug Paige. "I never should have brought it up, or even considered it. I'll call him back and tell him no."

"Wait, Dr. Scott asked you out? When?"

"He called last night after you were in bed."

Paige noticed that Phoebe looked disappointed, but Phoebe was doing a good job of trying to cover it up. "Well, it would be kinda weird." She paused for a minute. "But, as long as you don't intertwine my relationship with Dr. Scott, and your relationship with Aiden, I think it would be okay."

Phoebe looked like she was over the moon. "Do you really mean it, Paige? Because you mean more to me than any date ever could, even a date I could actually be myself with. But if it's going to upset you even a little bit, I won't do it. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?" said Paige. "We've seperated our wiccan lives from our dating lives before, so I'm sure you guys can handle not talking about me, and when I'm with Dr. Scott, I'll only talk about you when it concerns witchy business."

"Great!" Phoebe exclaimed. "I'm going to go call him, right now!" She leapt from her chair and ran to the phone in the living room.

Paige sighed. Why did Phoebe always have to make everything about herself?

Paige worked through her mid-day session with Dr. Scott. They talked a little bit about Glen, but not about the baby yet. Paige admitted she missed Glen terribly, but she could only see hurt, pain and disappointment when she looked at him. She knew it wasn't fair, but she couldn't help it. Dr. Scott told her she should try and talk to Glen, maybe on the phone at first. Even if they decided not to stay together, they both suffered a loss together, and needed to work through it together.

When the session was done, Paige stood up. "So," she hesitated for a second. "You're going to start dating my sister?" She sounded a bit like a child, not fully understanding something.

"Only if it's okay with you, Paige."

"Yeah, yeah, it's okay. Just kind of weird. Ya know?"

"Yes, I know. I promise I won't let my relationship with Phoebe interfere with mine and yours. And vice versa. I haven't been with another witch since-" he paused for a moment, "Well, it's been a while. It's so nice to not have to hide your biggest secret from someone."

"That's how it was with me and Glen." Paige sat down again, apparently not ready to end the session.

"Glen knew everything about me and my sisters, and he even knew the truth about Prue. Well, you, you know we're the Charmed Ones. But tell me, how much magic do you and Alden actually have?"

"We come from a very long line of good witches. Seems in your family, the magic is passed through the women. In ours, it's the men. Well, some of the women, too, but for the most part, men. Not to brag, or anything, but we're quite powerful. Family magic is always very strong."

"Do you, like, fight demons and warlocks? I'm sorry, it's just that I haven't met that many other witches, either, and the ones I have met, were...well, not exactly magical witches."

"I know what you mean," smiled Dr. Scott. "But yes, we fight demons, warlocks, tracers, all kinds of evil. We know about the source of all evil, and the upper levels, and the factions. We may not be Charmed," he smiled, "but we fight the same evil as you."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. "I-" Paige started. "Thanks for everything you're doing for me, Dr. Scott. I really am glad Prue told Alden about me, so you could help. And I really am okay with you dating Phobe. But when you come over to pick her up and stuff, can I call you Aiden then?"

Dr. Scott laughed. "Of course. You can call me Aiden anytime."

As Paige was walking down the hallway of Dr. Scott's office, she bumped into Phoebe. "Time for your lunch date already?"

"Yeah, I'm so nervous! Why am I so nervous?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know," Paige smirked playfully, "you always said that lunch was a cheap imitation of dinner and wasn't worth it."

Phoebe gently smacked Paige's arm. "It's different now. I don't know how, but it is." Something over Paige's shoulder caught her eye. It was the ever so handsome Dr. Aiden Scott. He had the same blue-green eyes as Alden, but he was a couple inches taller. His hair was sandy blonde, and much shorter than Alden's. His strong jaw line and dimpled chin made Phoebe blush at the thoughts running through her mind. Aiden had taken off his suit jacket and tie, and had undone the top two buttons of his blue oxford shirt. He looks sooo sexy, Phoebe thought. Older men always attracted Phoebe, but she thought how odd it was that even with Prue being quite a bit older than herself, and dating Aiden's younger brother, that Alden was a year older than Prue was, so Phoebe was actually dating someone ten years older than herself. And she was pushing thirty, herself!

Paige stepped aside as Aiden held out his elbow for Phoebe to take. "Shall we go?" he asked.

"MmmHmmm," Phoebe mumbled, still taken aback by those gorgeous eyes.

As they walked away, Paige genuinely smiled. She really was happy that Phoebe was happy, even if it WAS with her doctor.

Later that evening, Prue and Alden had plans of their own. Prue had told her sisters not to bother waiting up for her, because she wasn't coming home. She and Alden would be spending their first night together at his place. She was quite thankful he lived alone. She jogged up the stairs to his front door, carrying a paper bag of groceries. She heard a loud crash inside, so she didn't bother knocking. She burst in, tossing the groceries aside. She saw Alden go flying across the room. A tall, grayish looking demon was there, and he was going after Alden. Alden stood up, limping slightly. He held up his hands to use his power against the demon, but the demon had conjured a fireball and flung it toward him.

"Nooo!" Prue yelled, and whipped her hand up, flinging the fireball back at the demon, vanquishing him. At the same time, Alden's own hands emitted a spray of lightning, but since the demon was now gone, only succeeded in breaking a lamp.

Prue ran over to Alden. "Are you alright? You're bleeding!" She touched a hand to a gash on his forehead. "I'll call Leo, he can heal you!"

"Prue!" Alden yelled, "I have my own whitelighter, thank you very much, and I can vanquish a demon on my own!"

She tried to touch him, but he jerked away.

"I'm sorry!" she said. "It was just reflexes! I know you're capable of vanquishing your own demons. It's just hard not to reflect a fireball when I see one flying across the room. It's second nature to me now. Here, let me.." She grabbed a tissue and patted his cut. She could tell she hurt his pride, and wanted to make it up to him.

Alden was still mad, but was calming down. "I don't need any help." He snatched the tissue from her.

Prue stood up and stepped back. She was starting to get mad now. "Alden, you see what I see everyday! Sure, you're perfectly able to take care of yourself, but whenever you see a demon, what's your first reaction? To vanquish him. I know, because that's my first reaction, too. I didn't do it to protect you, or to stand up for you. I did it because it's in my blood. The only thought in my head was, 'demon, vanquish', nothing more." She turned around and took a few steps to the forgotten groceries on the floor. She put them all back in the bag, and set it on a table.

"Dammit, I'm sorry Prue." Alden shook his head. "Of course you were acting on instinct. I didn't mean to snap. But you bruised my ego," He let a small smile form on his lips. One of his dimples appeared. He pulled Prue closer, and held her tight. "Forgive me?" he asked, seconds before leaning down and sharing a passionate kiss with Prue. As Prue pulled away, she said, "But what about dinner?"

"I'm not hungry anymore," Alden said, kissing her again. "And I think food is the last thing on your mind, too." As he kissed her, he led her to the stairs. He swooped down and picked her up and headed for his bedroom.

"Mmm," Prue smiled, "So this is what it feels like to be rescued by a big handsome fireman. Nice to be the rescuee for a change."

Back at the manor, Paige was alone. Prue and Phoebe were on dates, and Leo and Piper had received another call from Darryl, so they took the boys over to the Morris house to talk about their relationship with Darryl over the past 5 years or so. Darryl wanted to be friends, but not their cover-up anymore. He really did love the girls and Leo like family, and wanted to see the boys grow up. He just didn't want to know about demons anymore.

Paige looked around the empty house. It was so quiet, so lonely. She sat down on the couch, and picked up the remote. But then she decided there was nothing on tv she wanted to see. She just sat there, remote in hand, staring into space. When she came to again, she realized she must have been sitting there for at least an hour, it was pitch black outside. She heard a noise in the kitchen, and stiffend up, to listen for it again. Suddenly, a light flickered on. Glen was standing in the doorway, hand on the lightswitch. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, but when Glen made to take a step toward her, Paige jumped.

"Paige, I'm sorry, I should go." He turned around.

"No, wait!"

He turned back around. He didn't say anything, he waited for her to speak.

"Glen, I don't know what to say. I'm not sure how to react to seeing you again." She saw his face fall.

"I'm just gonna go," Glen said.

"Please Glen, don't go." Paige sat back down and laid her hand on the cushion next to her. Slowly, Glen made his way to sit beside her. There was an awkward tension between them, like teenagers not sure what to do next. Then Glen wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and she fell into him. Neither of them said anything for a while. They just sat in silence, holding each other. Paige let a single tear trickle down her cheek, and whispered so quietly, Glen wasn't sure he really heard it. "Don't leave me tonight. Don't leave me again ever."


	12. Moving On

It was a rainy day in San Francisco, and the Charmed Ones were sitting at the dining room table, less Paige. She walked into the room, sat down, and tossed down a deck of cards. Piper raised an eyebrow at the cards, and then at Paige. "What's all this?"

"When's the last time we did anything as sisters that didn't involve demons?" Paige asked as she sat down between Prue and Phoebe.

"Probably never," Phoebe said, eyeing the cards. "But do you really want to play UNO?"

"Yeah," Paige smiled. "Hey, I didn't have you guys growing up, and I didn't have any sisters or brothers of my own, so what's wrong with playing a kids' game?"

"Okay then," Prue said, picking up the cards. "Let's play!" As she shuffled the deck, she wondered what was up with Paige, but decided that since Paige was being sociable, they'd better go along with it. Even if they were playing cards. At least Paige was taking an interest in SOMETHING.

Prue dealt seven cards to everyone. Piper discarded first. They all went around, taking their turns. Then Piper laid down a draw two card.

"Hey!" Phoebe said. No fair!" She picked up two, and it was Paige's turn.

She laid down a wild draw four. "I'll make it green."

"Green? I don't have any greens!" Prue exclaimed.

"Well then I guess it's a good thing you had to draw four!" Paige said, smiling.

When it came back to Phoebe again, she threw down a skip card. Prue threw down a reverse. Paige discarded a reverse. Piper put down a green seven.

"Hey! It's not your turn Piper!"

Piper picked up the card and said, "Well who the hell can keep track with all this skips and reverses?" Prue took her turn, leaving only one card in her hand.

"Uno!" Piper yelled, pointing at Prue. "Ha! You have to draw more cards!"

The girls actually found themselves having a good time. They laughed and played, and threw popcorn at each other. It was hard to remember a time when they'd really had so much fun. But all good things must come to an end, and it did, as a warlock blinked into the room.

He caught Prue's eye, and she yelled, "Phoebe, behind you!" The warlock lunged toward Phoebe, who leapt from the chair and onto the floor. Prue had stood up, and flung her arm at the warlock, throwing him into the wall. As he slid down it, the sisters composed themselves and Prue said, "Shall I?"

"Nah, he's too easy," Piper said. She held up her hands and blew the warlock up. "Now that that's done, I have to go find Leo and the boys." She looked at her watch. "They should have been back by now." She grabbed her jacket and walked out.

Phoebe started picking up the cards and put a rubber band around them. "What time did Piper say it was? I have a date tonight."

"Me too," Prue smiled, picking up popcorn kernels.

"Oh, and where are you going?" Paige asked Prue.

"His place," she smirked, and sashayed out of the room toward the basement, where she and Phoebe shared a room.

"Hmmph. I'm gonna be alone again tonight," Paige pouted.

"Well, honey, why don't you go out? You can come with me and Aiden."

"Oh yeah, that will be a blast, tagging along with my big sister and my DOCTOR." Paige rolled her eyes.

"Paige, I thought it didn't bother you that I was seeing Dr. Scott."

"It doesn't!" she exclaimed. "I'm just lonely."

"Well, I'll call and cancel. He'll understand. You and I can play more uno."

"No, just go. I'll be fine. Piper and Leo will probably end up coming home early, anyway. I will be fine."

Piper and Leo ended up staying out later with the boys than Paige had imagined. She'd tried reading, tv, crossword puzzles, even knitting, but nothing held her attention. Dr. Scott said that was normal. Or Aiden. Whatever the hell she was supposed to call him. She was surprised by a knock at the door. She was more surprised to see Glen there. After her mini-breakdown the other day, she and Glen had only talked once.

"Glen! I'm so glad to see you!"

"You are?"

"Yeah! Come in!" She held the door open for him, and then followed him into the conservatory. "So what's up?"

Glen thought Paige was a little too chipper, and decided not to tell her what he came to say. Instead, "I just missed you. Wanted to see if you wanted to go grab a burger or something."

"I'm not really hungry."

"Me neither."

"Glen, why are you really here? I know you didn't come with intentions of feeding me, when you're not even hungry yourself. Spill."

"I.. Paige, I withdrew the offer on the house next door. Someone else bought it, and they'll be moving in the middle of next week. I just wanted to tell you first, before you saw them over there." He slumped down on the sofa.

She was quite for a moment, and sat down too. She put a hand on his knee, and leaned her head on his shoulder. "It's okay. I understand. What do we need with five bedrooms, when it's just us?"

"Us?" Glen asked, pullling back so he could see her face. "Does this mean you want to be with me again?"

"Yeah, if you'll still have me. Dr. Scott, Aiden, whatever the hell I'm supposed to call him, has helped me a lot. I still need to keep seeing him, but I'm working through it. Maybe you could go see him, too. Seperately, of course."

"Isn't it weird to talk to Phoebe's boyfriend about stuff?"

"Nah, he's cool. And he makes Phoebe happy. I hope it works out for them. We're all very good at keeping the sessions away from the personal levels. Plus, it really helps that he's a witch, so I don't have to hold back any details with him."

"So then, is his brother, that guy Prue is with, a witch too?"

"Yeah. They, on the other hand, aren't going to last long. They're way too similar. But I'm glad she's happy with him for now."

"Paige, are you sure you're okay? With everything, I mean. Me, you, your sisters and their boyfriends, being around the babies, everything?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Not better, so to speak, but I'm okay. And I will get better. How about you? Have you been doing alright?" Paige asked him thoughtfully.

"I guess as well as can be expected. I haven been seeing a counsellor, but without being able to talk about the magical aspects, it's not doing that much good for me. Maybe I will call Dr. Scott. But Paige, I need to be with you, to heal completely. I can't stay away from you anymore. Paige, tell me you feel the same way." She could see in his eyes that he meant it. They stared at each other for a moment, until Paige wrapped her arms around him.

"I need to be with you, too. Losing the baby still hurts so much, but it's a lot worse without you there to lean on." Her eyes filled with tears, but they didn't fall. She pulled back, with her arms still around him, to look in his eyes. She knew she couldn't deny it anymore, she loved him and couldn't live without him, even though they had to live without their little girl. They kissed. At first tenderly, but then it became heated. Glen found his hands roaming Paige's body, clenching her soft black hair, pulling her closer to him. Paige started to lie back, pulling him with her when,

"Ahem. NOT on my couch, please." They jumped up. Piper was standing in the doorway, smirking, in a smiley way. "You guys look like teenagers that just got caught making out. Take it upstairs," she laughed. Leo walked up behind her, pushing a stroller with one hand, Wyatt's hand in his other.

Paige and Glen laughed, and stood up. "Good idea, sis," Paige winked, and pulled Glen upstairs.

"Well," Leo said, "I'm glad to see they're back together, and almost back to normal."

"Me too," said Piper.

At the top of the stairs, Glen pulled back. "Paige, wait, this is too weird, with Leo and Piper here, and especially with the boys being here. I don't want to hold back with you." He cupped her chin with his hand, and kissed her lips. "Let's go to my house."

Later, at Glen's, they laid in bed, holding each other. "Paige," Glen said, "I meant what I said. I need to be with you. All the time."

She leaned up on one elbow to look down at him. "What are you getting at?" She smiled.

"Paige, move in with me. No no," he said to her objection, "hear me out. We're meant to be together Paige, you know it. Your sisters will be just fine without you under the same roof. There are four of you now, afterall. And you'll only be a call away, and you can get to them in what, three seconds with that orbing thing? Paige, please live with me."

"If you'd have let me talk," Paige smiled, "you would have heard my answer. Yes. I'll move in with you." She leaned down to kiss him, and to go for round two under the sheets. But Glen pulled back.

"What is it?"

He reached to the floor where his discarded jeans lay. He dug something out of the pocket.

"That's not what I think it is," Paige thought to herself, sitting up in bed, pulling the covers to her chest. "It's not!" She kept thinking. Glen pulled out a little black velvet box. He opened it to reveal a platinum ring with a huge marquis diamond centered on the band.

"Paige Halliwell-Matthews, will you marry me?"

"Yes!"

----"And that's how it happened, right there, in his bed, wearing nothing but sheets," Paige told Phoebe the next day.

"Oh, my baby sisters is getting married! I'm so happy for you!" Phoebe was so giddy, using her excited-baby voice she sometimes uses. "When are you going to do it?"

"We're not sure yet, but Pheebs, I'm moving in with him. We're going to keep his little house, not the big one next door. Someone else is moving in there next week."

"And you're worried about breaking up the Power of Four?" Phoebe asked.

"Not really," Paige said. "I'm not worried about anything, surprisingly. As Glen pointed out, I'm only an orb away. And with four of us now, we can kick any demon's ass, or hold him off till the rest of us get there," she smiled. Phoebe was so happy to see a genuine smile on her sister's face.

"You're right," Phoebe said. "We'll all be fine. Even if you do live four miles away now."

"Hey," Paige said, happily, "now you can go back to having your own room! Prue can take back over on her old room, since I'll be moving out of it. Or else Piper will make her stay down there with you, and let the boys have their own rooms."

"I'm sure it will be the latter," Phoebe laughed. "Prue and I are never sleeping in our room on the same nights, anyway, now that we're both dating. God, I am SOOOO glad that the brother's we're seeing don't live together!"

They laughed at that, and Paige jumped up as she heard the door open. In walked Prue, holding Wyatt's hand, and Piper, cradling a sleeping baby Chris.

"Guys," Paige said, "I have news."


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue

Eight months later:

"I know pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Glen lifted Paige's veil, and kissed her softly. The guests clapped. Phoebe, in her purple bride's maid gown, wiped her tears away. Paige and Glen ran up the aisle, hand in hand, to the limo waiting outside to take them to the reception.

After the happy couple was whisked away, Aiden took Phoebe's hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she smiled through her tears. "I'm so happy for them! They both deserve happiness more than anyone!" She and Aiden left the church, headed for the reception. They, along with most of the other guests, got there before the newlyweds. Piper was barking orders at the caterers. Leo was running after Wyatt and Chris, who had started toddling quite fast for as small as he still was. But Wyatt was faster, and he grabbed up Chris' stuffed dog and ran, laughing. Chris squealed, and orbed the dog back to him.

"Chris! Remember what Daddy told you?" Leo looked around frantically, hoping no one had noticed. Luckily, it seemed no one had. Leo whispered in Chris' ear, "No magic in front of the mortals! Okay, big guy?" Chris smiled a huge smile, and patted Leo on the cheek. "Otay dada." The he toddled off, looking for Wyatt, who had found his Aunt Prue and was following her around, rearranging all the things Prue felt needed rearranged herself. Leo stood up, smiling at his sons.

Phoebe walked up next to him, bumped him with her shoulder. She handed him a wine glass and said, "Prue is gonna flip when she sees Wyatt undoing all her work," nodding at the flowers that Wyatt took off the table Prue had put them on, back onto their previous spot.

"Ha, like she has the heart to yell at them," Leo smiled at her. "Hey now, what's that on your finger?"

"This? Oh, nothing." She tried to hide her hand.

"Come on, Phoebe. I'm your whitelighter, brother, and most importantly, your friend."

"Okay, but keep it quiet! I don't want to steal Paige's thunder. Aiden proposed on the way over here from the church. Don't tell anyone yet! Wait till Paige and Glen leave for their honeymoon. Then I'll tell Piper and Prue, and when Paige gets home, her, too."

"Your secret is safe with me," Leo winked at her.

"Hey now, no secrets, let me in on it!" Piper said as she walked up to them, finally happy with what the caterers had done.

"Oh, it's nothing, nothing at all, babe," Leo swished Piper away, twirling her toward the dance floor. Phoebe looked at her sister, so happy with Leo, so much in love. They deserved it, they really did. They'd been through so much, and it finally looked like happiness was here to stay.

Phoebe looked beyond them to Prue, who was reaching out to Wyatt, who was holding a flower out for her. He'd swiped it from one of the arrangements Prue had been trying to fix. Prue leaned down, laughed, and took the flower. She put it behind her ear, and Wyatt beamed. Not to be outdone, Chris grabbed a flower, too. Prue took it, and stood up. She turned around, and there was Alden, holding out a flower, too. Phoebe laughed. Leave it to Prue to have three men vieing for her attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present, Mr. and Mrs. Glen Taylor!" The attendant announced, and Paige and Glen entered. The guests applauded. They looked ecstatic together.

Phoebe clapped with the rest of them, then quickly wrapped her right hand around her left, hiding her ring.

"You gonna keep that thing hidden all night?" Aiden snuck up behind her, whispering in her ear. He lightly kissed her neck and she turned around. She reached up for a kiss, and then said, "No, just till they leave for their honeymoon. Don't want to spoil this for them."

"I love that about you, Phoebe Halliwell. I love everything about you." He bend his head down to kiss her on the lips.

"Ew, get a room," Prue joked. She and Alden had just snuck up behind them. Phoebe playfully shoved Prue's shoulder. With her right hand, of course. That turned into a hug, and the girls looked at their baby sister, dancing her first dance as a married woman. "I can't believe our baby sister is married!" Prue sighed. The guys had stepped back to let the sisters have their moment. "Do you think they'll try for another baby?"

"No," Phoebe said, almost sadly, "They aren't going to try for a couple years. Still healing, though they are back to themselves, now."

Prue leaned her head down to touch her forehead to Phoebe's. "Do you think it will be okay with them if someone else has a baby?"

Phoebe's eyes widened. Prue smiled, and nodded. "I'm pregnant!" she whispered excitedly.

As Phoebe hugged Prue and then quietly congratulated Alden, she saw her sister Piper across the room, sitting with her little family of Leo, Wyatt and Chris. Then she looked up at Paige, dancing with the love of her life, Glen, looking into each other's eyes like they were the only ones there. She looked at her sister Prue's still flat tummy, and then down at her own ring finger. The Halliwell women were finally happy, at last.


End file.
